Leave Your Mark on Menomonie’s History: The Wilson Place Time Capsule Project

What would you say to yourself ten years from now?

What would you want your family to know fifty years from now?

And what would you tell the people of Menomonie if you knew they wouldn’t read your words for an entire century?

As part of the Wilson Place Museum’s 50th Anniversary, we launched a special Time Capsule Project inviting members of our community to do something we don’t often have the opportunity to do: intentionally leave a piece of today for the future.

The Time Capsule Project Featured in Volume One

We are delighted that the Wilson Place Time Capsule Project was recently featured by Volume One in the article “Wilson Place Launches Historic Time Capsule Project for 50th Anniversary.”

The article shares the story behind the project and the idea of giving people today an opportunity to leave their own words for future generations.

Read the full Volume One article:
https://volumeone.org/sites/menomonie/articles/2026/07/28/395637-wilson-place-launches-historic-time-capsule-project-for-50th-anniversary

And while our 50th Anniversary celebration has passed, the Time Capsule Project is not over.

Community members can continue participating through the end of 2026.

Three Letters. Three Different Futures.

For $10, participants receive materials to contribute to all three Wilson Place time capsules.

10 Years — A Letter to Your Future Self

Where do you think you will be in 2036?

Write about your life today, your hopes, your dreams, the things that matter to you, or simply what an ordinary day looks like right now.

Ten years from now, your letter will be mailed back to you.

Sometimes history isn’t something that happened a hundred years ago. Sometimes it is simply remembering who we were ten years ago.

50 Years — A Letter to Your Future Family

Imagine someone in your family opening a letter from you in 2076.

What would you want them to know?

You might share a family story, a favorite memory, advice for future generations, or something about your life that you hope will not be forgotten.

This capsule is intended for your family—a personal connection between generations separated by half a century.

100 Years — A Letter to the Future Menomonie Community

This is where today truly becomes history.

The 100-Year Time Capsule will be opened in 2126.

We invite participants to write to the people who will call Menomonie home a century from now.

Tell them what our community is like in 2026. Tell them what you love about Menomonie. Share what you hope has changed—and what you hope hasn’t.

Think about the questions we ask when we look at photographs, letters, newspapers, clothing, household objects, and other pieces of the past:

What were their lives really like? What mattered to them? What did they hope for the future?

This time, we have the opportunity to answer those questions ourselves.

Made Possible Through Community Support

The Wilson Place Museum’s 50th Anniversary Time Capsule Project was made possible in part through generous grant support from the Community Foundation of Dunn County.

Their support helped us create a meaningful way for people in our community to participate in the anniversary while preserving their stories, memories, and hopes for future generations.

We are grateful to the Community Foundation for investing in projects that celebrate Dunn County’s history, strengthen connections within our community, and help ensure that our local heritage continues to be shared for generations to come.

Preserving More Than Objects

At Wilson Place Museum, much of our work involves preserving the things previous generations left behind.

Furniture. Photographs. Clothing. Documents. Architecture. Family stories.

Each helps us understand the people who came before us.

The Time Capsule Project gives our generation an opportunity to become part of that story.

One hundred years from now, the buildings of Menomonie may look different. Technology certainly will. The businesses, schools, streets, and traditions familiar to us today may have changed in ways we cannot imagine.

But someone will be able to open these letters and hear directly from the people who lived here in 2026.

From us.

You Can Still Participate

Time Capsule packets are available for $10 at the Wilson Place Museum Gift Shop on tour days through the end of 2026.

Each packet includes materials for the 10-Year, 50-Year, or 100-Year capsules, including acid-free paper and an archival pen to help preserve your words for the future.

You don’t have to write something profound.

Write something real.

A memory. A hope. A family story. A description of an ordinary Tuesday. The price of groceries. Your favorite place in Menomonie. Something that makes you laugh. Something you hope the world has figured out by 2126.

Because sometimes the ordinary details of today become the most fascinating pieces of history tomorrow.

What Will You Leave Behind?

Wilson Place has spent 50 years as a museum preserving and sharing the stories of those who came before us.

With this project, we are also thinking about those who will come after us.

Ten years. Fifty years. One hundred years.

Your words can become part of Menomonie’s history.

We hope you’ll add your voice.