Time Capsule Buried at Old County Courthouse : Day-to-Day Items for 100 Years Hence

One hundred years from now, residents of Orange County will have a chance to glimpse life in 1989 when they open a time capsule that was buried Tuesday at the Old County Courthouse in Santa Ana.

The 500-pound capsule was lowered into a concrete vault during a ceremony that marked the county’s 100th birthday and the end of the yearlong centennial celebration. But the 100 items packed inside were dedicated not only to this year but to Orange County’s future, especially in the field of high-tech computer and space-age materials.

“We wanted to leave behind more than a memory of a yearlong celebration,” Darrell Metzger, centennial president, said of Tuesday’s event, which was sponsored by The Times Orange County Edition.

The steel time capsule, produced and donated by McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. in Santa Ana, was buried beneath a 450-pound monument at the corner of the Old Courthouse on West Santa Ana Boulevard.

All air was removed from the capsule and replaced with inactive gasses. A moistened sponge was placed inside to maintain the proper humidity level during the next 100 years.

Among the items buried in the capsule were a history of the county, a hotel guide, a bottle of wine bearing the centennial label, a computer chip, photographs of 1989’s most popular cars, a child’s essay, a 1989 tax form, and a U.S. dollar.

“What you find in this capsule isn’t what you see on the front pages of the newspaper,” Lawrence M. Higby, president of The Times Orange County Edition, told the audience at the courthouse lawn. “These are the day-to-day items that represent how it feels to live in such a special place year around.”

In addition to burying the capsule, the centennial committee announced that more than $480,000 had been raised for the Centennial Scholarship Fund.

The fund will pay for scholarships for Orange County students who have demonstrated outstanding academic performance and community involvement during their high school years. Beginning next year, $50,000 will be awarded to high school seniors attending college in the fall.

The centennial fund also will provide scholarships for children born during the centennial year. Officials estimate that more than 40,000 babies were born between Aug. 1, 1988, and Aug. 1, 1989.

Awards from the Centennial Baby Fund will begin with the high school graduating class of 2007, when students remaining in Orange County that year will be eligible for scholarship funds that will be determined by academic performance and the school they will be attending.

The $480,000 now in the fund is expected to appreciate to more than $1 million in those 18 years.

“The cooperation we’ve had from both the public and private sector has been remarkable,” Metzger said. “The committee is very pleased that the community and the business sector responded in such a generous way.”

CENTENNIAL TIME CAPSULE HIGHLIGHTS

Of the 103 items placed in the capsule that Orange County officials buried Tuesday, here are some of the more interesting:

* A current U.S. dollar

* A sponge soaked in distilled water--to maintain humidity level

* “100 Traffic Solutions,” submitted by the Orange County Transportation Commission; a booklet offering 100 solutions to transportation problems.

* Centennial Commemorative Wine Bottle--first of 100 Bottles of William Hill Cabernet Sauvignon bearing the symbol of the Orange County Centennial

* Disney Dollars--currency accepted in Disneyland

* Gallium Arsenic 32 Bit Computer Chip--Used in space vehicles and works at speed of 200 megahertz.

* Musical score “Landscapes”--The Garden Grove Symphony commissioned a special piece for the centennial celebration to musically depict the history, heritage and varying cultures of Orange County.

* Old Courthouse Museum Society pin, pencil, envelope and letter to the residents of 2089

Photo of Brea Mall

* Top-selling toys--As voted on by Orange County children; to assure that their concept will be understood 100 years from now, a booklet that tells the story of how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were conceived and the 30-year history of the Barbie Doll is also included.