A time capsule to celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, was recently sealed and will be buried at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026. All 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories contributed their own items to the time capsule.
The 900-pound time capsule will be reopened in 2276, long after everyone reading this has died. But you don’t have to wait that long to know what’s inside. Some states contributed really interesting items, while others really dropped the ball. So it feels appropriate to break down each state’s contributions in America’s greatest journalistic form: the numbered list.
Each state and territory’s contributions run the gamut from what makes a good time capsule to precisely what makes a boring time capsule. California, which we ranked as the best, has some of the coolest contributions to the project. They included a fusion superconductor from General Atomics, a photo of California taken by NASA from space, and a prediction for the year 2276 by Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot. No matter what you think of AI, the people of 2276 will probably get a kick out of our stupid little robot predictions.
Among Nevada’s contributions (ranked 9th) is poker chips, which makes sense given the state’s gambling history. And Ohio (4th) had a solid, if admittedly geographically confused, contribution, which includes fabric from the 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, by the Wright Brothers.
Another state that understood how to deliver on this whole time capsule thing is New Mexico (2nd), which contributed a wide variety of items symbolic of the state, including a bolo tie, tile hand-crafted by a Mexican-American artist, Native American jewelry, and sand from White Sands National Park.
Utah (3rd) also included a large number of items that were unique, including a stock certificate for The Red Warrior Mining Company and George Washington Lord’s Prayer gold medal, handed out in 1869 after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in Promontory Summit, Utah.
Kansas is the worst state on the list, since it decided to include little more than a one-page document listing names of the commissioners who organized the 250th celebrations. But there are other terrible choices, like the great state of Maryland, which we ranked at 46th because it chose a challenge coin and the text of an executive order.
Connecticut (51st), Kansas (56th), and Indiana (55th) are the perfect examples of what not to include in a time capsule. Their contributions amounted to some of the planning documents for the 250th celebration. Nobody cares, here or in the future, what people sitting on a planning commission said in a bunch of stuffy meetings. Selecting those kinds of documents is always the laziest option. We’ll call it time-capsule slop.
Most time capsules are incredibly boring. It’s common for people to include things like flags, coins, and Bibles, along with newspaper clippings. But every once in a while, a really interesting time capsule gets unearthed, whether it’s a mouse used by Steve Jobs (buried in 1983, unearthed in 2013) or a cryotron and a vial of penicillin (buried in 1957 and unearthed in 2015).
But burying things underground is literally one of the worst ways to preserve things for the future. There have been plenty of time capsules that turn into nothing more than a soggy mess of garbage. That’s why the people who assembled this time capsule have built it to stay dry for centuries.
The list below features descriptions of each state and territory’s contributions provided by America 250. There are other contributions to the time capsule from partner organizations like the Smithsonian, the NFL, and the Supreme Court. But the list below is just ranking what came from the states. The other junk inside will have to wait for another list.
1) California
- Letter from the governor – A letter to the future from California Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom
- Fusion superconductor – Built in San Diego, California by General Atomics, this fusion conductor segment reflects some of the most innovative research on clean energy across the globe.
- California innovation $1 coin – California’s American Innovation Coin features Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and Pixar Animation Studios.
- My California Poem – “My California,” written by California’s current Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick, uniquely captures the diversity and vitality of the California experience.
- NASA photo – This photo of California from space was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Aqua satellite on January 23, 2022. The image captures the current topography of the state during a typical winter season in the first few decades of the twenty-first century.
- Claude AI prediction – Given the prompt: “Write me a prediction of what California will be like 250 years from July 4, 2026,” Claude Artificial Intelligence (AI) Large Language Model’s (LLM) musings are printed on archival paper, serving as a tangible representation of AI in 2026. Only time will tell if the predictions laid out will be realized.
- Qubit chip – The qubit chip from the University of California, Berkeley reflects some of today’s most innovative technological research and highlights California’s leading public university system — a key driver of the state’s booming innovation economy.
2) New Mexico
- Letter from the Governor – A letter addressed to the people of New Mexico in 2276, written on archival paper and signed by the 32nd Governor of New Mexico, Michelle Luján Grisham
- Current map of New Mexico – Metal with relief carvings detailing the areas of New Mexico state on one side and an engraved note on the other side
- Coin of the office of the Governor – Official souvenir challenge coin representing the Office of the Governor of New Mexico, Michelle Luján Grisham
- Route 66 Centennial Coin – New Mexico True Route 66 Centennial Challenge Coin
- Set of pins – New Mexico waving flag lapel pin, 2025 Balloon Fiesta lapel pin, “Grow in Wisdom Honor Our Heritage 1776-2026” Donativo pin
- Seed pot – Pueblo peoples have made pottery for more than 2,000 years and seed pots hold deep cultural significance in Pueblo tradition as vessels of sustenance and continuity. This work reflects the living artistic heritage of Santa Clara Pueblo and the enduring legacy of its pottery traditions. A seed pot crafted by Mae Suazo Tapia of Santa Clara Pueblo, daughter of noted potter Santanita Suazo.
- Vial of Sand – A sealed vial of sand from White Sands National Park, provided by the National Park Service. Composed of pure gypsum crystals, the white sands of this iconic New Mexico landmark form one of the world’s largest gypsum dunefields and represent a landscape found nowhere else on Earth.
- Tile – A hand-crafted red chile tile created by Jennell Juarez, a Mexican American artist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, paid for and provided by the New Mexico Museum of Art. The red chile is among New Mexico’s most enduring cultural symbols.
- Necklace – A sterling silver squash blossom necklace featuring Kingman turquoise, crafted by Navajo silversmith Harrison Yazzie, purchased and provided by El Palacio Magazine and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. The squash blossom necklace is one of the most iconic and enduring forms of Native American jewelry, rooted in Navajo/Diné silversmithing traditions that have been passed down through generations.
- Bolo tie – A silver and turquoise bolo tie in the shape of the state of New Mexico, provided by the family of Bruce King — the 23rd, 25th, and 28th Governor of New Mexico. The bolo tie holds a cherished place in the culture of the American Southwest and was designated the official state tie of New Mexico.
- Booklet includes – 2026 Constitution of the State of New Mexico, Sheet Music for “O, Fair New Mexico”, Sheet Music for “Así es Nuevo México”, Zia Symbol with the Pledge to the State of New Mexico, “The Land Remembers,” by New Mexico Poet Laureate Manuel González
- Recipe card – A recipe card for the biscochito, New Mexico’s official state cookie, shared from the kitchen of Elaine Trujillo of Arroyo Seco, New Mexico.
3) Utah
Set of Eight Documents
- State of Utah Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States America250 National Time Capsule
- State of Utah House of Representatives Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States America250 National Time Capsule
- State of Utah State Senate Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States America250 National Time Capsule
- State of Utah Supreme Court Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States America250 National Time Capsule
- State of Utah United States Elected Representatives Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the United States America250 National Time Capsule
- The Federally Recognized Tribes
- Print-Out of The Historic Flag of Utah and the New Flag of Utah
- The Utah Commission of the 250th Anniversary of the United States
