Where does the America250 law require the 2026 national time capsule to be buried?

The America250 law requires the 2026 national time capsule to be buried in Independence Mall, Philadelphia.

The location was specified in the United States Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016. Independence Mall is a historic national park area containing or surrounding major Philadelphia landmarks associated with the founding era, including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center.

Philadelphia was the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress when it adopted the Declaration of Independence. That historical connection explains why the capsule’s legally designated site is in Philadelphia rather than in Washington, D.C., which became the national capital later.

The capsule is intended to preserve representative material from the Semiquincentennial period. Its planned burial site is sometimes confused with the National Mall, a separate ceremonial landscape in Washington, D.C.