The town of Higbee will celebrate 150 years of history at the 2022 Higbee Fall Fair next weekend. From Thursday, August 18, through Saturday, August 20, fairgoers can enjoy a slew of events, including a carnival,  Jr. Miss and Queen contests, an ATV rodeo, live musical performances, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a baby show, a car cruise/parade, a mud run, a pet show, auctions, and games.

One highlight will be the opening of a time capsule during the Higbee 150th birthday party, which will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. under the shelter house at Katy Park. Cake and ice cream will be served. The capsule will be opened at the Higbee Senior Citizens Center located along Route A just south of the railroad crossing.

Sometime prior to the Centennial year fair in 1972, several Higbee men buried the time capsule. It is believed that Earl Strain, Jr., sealed the capsule. His son, Ben Strain, and grandsons Chris and Ethan will cut the seal to reveal the hidden items placed there by family and friends.

The capsule appears to be constructed from an old iron boiler part or perhaps a small water heater. At 44 inches tall and 10 inches in diameter, it is painted red, white, and blue and has been welded shut.

Photographs confirm that the capsule was buried. However, a short time later it was unearthed and moved. The circumstance of why the capsule needed to be moved from its resting place to a new location is speculation. Some believed it to have been buried at the corner of the new post office in the back of the old city building, at the southwest corner of Randolph and Division streets. Some think it was buried around the fall of 1971. But there is proof that it was above ground and moved before the August 1972 Higbee Centennial Fair, which would make the capsule 51-years old.

Nobody knows just why the capsule was moved. One rumor is that the new post office needed to place the flag pole in the area the capsule was buried. Another rumor suggests there was a fear someone might dig it up (there is thought to be a sharp razor inside the capsule that could cause harm). The actual reason remains unknown. However, according to a number of past city staff, the capsule has been resting in the safe at City Hall for at least the past 49 years.

Sheral Simms, who passed away in March, was the Higbee Mayor at that time. His wife, Linda, will attend the opening of the capsule, along with their daughter, Julie, who was only five-years old at the time of its burial. Four generations of the Simms family are expected to be present for the capsule’s opening.