Yuma’s old prison sealed a time capsule this summer. The one from 1876 is a better mystery.

If you had to explain 2026 to somebody in 2076, what would you pack?

The folks at the Yuma Territorial Prison went with a copy of the Yuma Sun, a coin marking the country's 250th birthday, a roll of pennies, a 2026 Farmer's Almanac, photos from the Heritage Area's children's program, and a pile of cards with messages from the people who came out for the occasion.

The occasion was July 1, exactly 150 years after the first seven inmates arrived on Prison Hill. The capsule was sealed that evening and now sits on a shelf inside the prison museum.

That's a nice little story on its own. What got my attention was where the capsule ended up. According to the Yuma Sun (https://www.yumasun.com/news/time-capsule-buried-at-territorial-prison-for-150th-anniversary/article_b8e222db-25b4-4913-a9b2-0d46c1d70b9d.html), it's displayed "next to a recreation of a lost time capsule that was buried in the 19th Century" and "has since been lost."

A lost time capsule. In a prison. That's the kind of sentence that makes you want to go knock on some adobe.

LOST, OR JUST SITTING THERE?

Here's the wrinkle. In 2019, on the prison's 143rd anniversary, the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, the same organization that runs the prison today, published a history of the first inmates on its website (https://www.yumaheritage.com/article/first-prisoners-yuma-inmates-built-their-own-cells-in). It said: "A time capsule put in when the building started is also still there. There are no immediate plans to open it."

The two accounts conflict, and I couldn't find a later explanation that reconciles them. The Heritage Area's 2019 history says the capsule is still there. The 2026 Sun report describes it as lost and says the museum displays a recreation. The capsule's location, and the basis for calling it lost, remain unconfirmed in the sources reviewed here. That's a question for museum manager Yanna Kruse and the Heritage Area, which runs the site.

There's a smaller discrepancy about the new capsule, too. A Yuma Sun preview of the anniversary (https://www.yumasun.com/news/yuma-territorial-prison-to-celebrate-150-years/article_00cbcaee-89a8-4bc8-a90d-433a81fd75bb.html) said it would be sealed until 2126, which would be the prison's 250th. The two reports written after the ceremony, from KYMA (https://kyma.com/news/top-stories/2026/07/01/yuma-territorial-prison-marks-150-years-with-time-capsule-celebration/) and the Sun, both say 2076, the 200th. I couldn't verify the opening year with a direct statement from the prison or Heritage Area, so 2076 is the post-event reporting, not a date independently confirmed here. Either way, most of us won't be around to check.

THE MEN WHO BUILT THEIR OWN CELLS

The prison's own history is stranger than most time capsules.

The Territorial Legislature authorized it in 1875 with a $25,000 budget, according to the prison's historical background (https://www.yumaprison.org/historical-background.html). Ground was broken in early 1876. When the first seven prisoners showed up that July, the cells weren't finished. So they built them, out of rock, and spent their nights locked up in the county jail on Main Street, according to the Heritage Area's 2019 account.

Prisoner No. 1 was William Ball of Tucson, serving life for second-degree murder. He was pardoned in 1884. Then he came back, twice, as Prisoner No. 414 and later No. 581, both times for grand larceny. I'll let you decide what that says about the rehabilitation program, or about William Ball.

Nobody took mugshots of the first 235 prisoners. Of the first 700 mugshots, only 50 survive.

Between 1876 and 1909, the prison held 3,069 men and women. One Sun timeline puts it at about 3,200; the Heritage Area's figure and the Sun's own July reporting both say 3,069. The cells were built for six. By the end, they held 10. Locals called the place "the country club on the Colorado" because it had electricity, a library and medical care. The people living in it called it the Hell Hole.

Overcrowding helped close it. In September 1909, the last inmates were moved to a new prison in Florence. After that, the old buildings had about as many second acts as William Ball. The town's high school held classes there until 1914, and the Sun's timeline (https://www.yumasun.com/news/yuma-territorial-prison-celebrates-150-years/article_570e554e-9dd7-4b9f-9149-ef087e07f667.html) says that's how the school's teams picked up the nickname "Criminals." The prison hospital reopened in 1918 for flu patients. During the Depression, people squatted there. A museum went up in 1941, and in 1961 it became Arizona's third state park.

THE DESCENDANTS KEEP SHOWING UP

One of my favorite details from the anniversary is who's still connected to the place.

At the capsule ceremony, Chris Wheeler, who owns Prison Hill Brewing and is vice chair of the Heritage Area board, put it plainly: "I am very proud to say that I am a descendant of one of those inmates."

A few weeks later, at the prison's Family Day, the Sun's Michael Maresh met Kelli Reed, whose great-grandfather had served time there (https://www.yumasun.com/news/prison-a-flash-from-the-past/article_e7c8c2bc-128c-4654-8621-c527486b8655.html). She went looking for his cell and couldn't find it. Kruse told the Sun that Reed isn't the first visitor to come in with a relative on the old roster.

There's something about that I like. A hundred and fifty years ago, having a family member at Yuma's prison was probably not something you'd bring up at dinner. Now people drive in to stand where their great-grandfather stood.

WHY THE PARTY WAS ALSO A FUNDRAISER

The anniversary has a practical side. The prison faced closure in 2010. Community members, including a group called the Yuma Chain Gang, raised more than $70,000 to keep it open, and the Heritage Area has run it since.

Adobe doesn't love time. The Heritage Area set a $150,000 fundraising goal for the 150th, aimed at maintenance, preservation and exhibits, and specifically pointed to the vulnerability of the aging adobe buildings. Businesses could bid on sponsorships of individual spots, like the Guard Tower, the Dark Cell and the cemetery, with starting bids from $750 to $3,000 and plaques displayed through September 2029 (https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/150th-anniversary-auction). Proceeds from the Oct. 17 Prison to Prison Beer Run also went to the anniversary and preservation work. I haven't seen a total raised so far.

At the ceremony, Kruse said, "This is a celebration of the past, but it is also a call to action on behalf of the community."

IF YOU GO

The prison is at 1 Prison Hill Road. From October through May it's open every day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for kids 7 to 13, and free for kids 6 and under. A guided tour runs daily at noon. Details are at https://www.yumaprison.org/.

The new capsule is on display. The old capsule's location remains unresolved in the reports cited here. That's enough reason to visit the prison and ask the people who know more than the reports do.