By Aberdeen Insider - January 29, 2026 in LEGAL NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE REGARDING EXHUMATION OF THE ZONTA 1976 TIME CAPSULE
DACOTAH PRAIRIE MUSEUM – ABERDEEN, SOUTH DAKOTA
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Dacotah Prairie Museum, Aberdeen, South Dakota, will exhume the Zonta 1976 Time Capsule located in Melgaard Park, Aberdeen, South Dakota, during late April or early May 2026 if weather conditions dictate, with the exact date and time to be publicly announced at a later date.
The time capsule was originally buried on April 25, 1976, as a Bicentennial project conducted by the Zonta Club. A total of 209 boxes/packages were submitted by local businesses, organizations, families, and individuals. The project procedure at that time required participants to purchase a box, place items and papers representative of 1976 life inside, and return the sealed box along with a duplicate certificate and disposal agreement to the Zonta Club.
Ownership, caretaking, recovery, and distribution responsibility for the time capsule was formally transferred to the Dacotah Prairie Museum in 2023.
CLAIM OF CONTENTS:
Any individual, family, business, or organization that placed objects in the time capsule and who possesses the original certificate issued at the time of submission may reclaim ownership of their individual package following exhumation. The donor copy of the original certificate sealed inside the package shall serve as identification for claiming contents.
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY:
If any package is not claimed within ninety (90) days, or a reasonable time thereafter, following the exhumation of the time capsule, the owner shall be deemed to have agreed, pursuant to the original disposal agreement, that the contents of such unclaimed package shall become the property of the Dacotah Prairie Museum, Aberdeen, South Dakota.
A list of known submissions is available for public review on the Dacotah Prairie Museum website.
This notice will be published two additional times prior to April 2026.
Dated this 29 day of January, 2026.
Dacotah Prairie Museum
Aberdeen, South Dakota
Contact museum director at 605.626.7117 or at [email protected]
Published once on January 29, 2026, at the total approximate cost of $26.30 and may be viewed free of charge at www.sdpublicnotices.com and www.aberdeeninsider.com