By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
Washington’s “mystery cannon” went on public display Friday during an open house and reception at the North Carolina Estuarium.
The origins of the cannon and how it came to Washington are unknown. The cannon, found in Washington’s Harbor District during the renovation of the city’s waterfront in 2001-2002, is believed to have been built in the late 1600s.
The cannon likely is of English, French, Spanish, Dutch or Scandinavian origin, according to Bradley Rodgers, a professor of maritime studies at East Carolina University. Rodgers, who delivered a program about the cannon at the open house, said he leans toward the cannon being of English origin.
“Most likely, it’s English,” Rodgers said in an interview before the open house and reception.
The cast iron cannon could have ended up in Washington as ballast from a ship that visited the city, he speculated. It could have been part of a battery on the city’s waterfront in the early days of development in the area.
“This cannon could be contemporary with the period of time of the pirate Blackbeard’s activity in North Carolina,” reads the January 2003 edition of Stem to Stern, a maritime-studies publication of East Carolina University.
Rodgers said the cannon probably weighed about 1,500 pounds when built, but over the years its weight has fallen to about 1,200 pounds because of corrosion.
“It’s definitely a naval gun,” he said.
ECU and the city are pursuing grant funding to further study the cannon to determine, if possible, where it was made, when it was made and how it ended up in Washington, Rodgers said.
Former Washington Mayor Judy Meier Jennette told those at the open house that helping with the project to clean and stabilize the cannon was one of the highlights of her tenure as mayor. When she and others — referred to as the “cannoneers” — agreed to be a part of that process, she recalled that Blount Rumley, director of the Estuarium, asked her a specific question: “Do you want to be the ramrod, swabber or powder monkey?”
The cannon was discovered by city employees during excavation of the waterfront near Respess Street and Stewart Parkway. Initial measurements of the cannon’s muzzle and bore dimensions indicated the cannon may have been sized to fire six-pound projectiles that were 3.49 inches in diameter.
After being turned over to ECU’s maritime-studies department, the cannon underwent cleaning and preservation work by maritime-studies students under the direction of Rodgers. The ECU program is one of two such programs in the nation, he said.
While cleaning and preserving the cannon, students worked to determine how the cannon was made and how it came to Washington.
Eventually, the cannon was returned to the city. During a three-year stay in the city’s warehouse, it showing signs of deterioration. Last fall, Rodgers, student assistant Theresa Hicks and four students in ECU’s advanced archaeological and museum artifact conservation class returned the cannon to the ECU maritime conservation lab, where it was refinished.
“It was in bad shape. It was terribly concreted,” Rodgers said.
The cannon was delivered to the Estuarium on March 29. It was placed on a carriage paid for by the Washington Area Historic Foundation and built at the N.C. Maritime Museum.
Friday’s reception was organized by the Washington Area Historic Foundation.