Early US Navy 24-Pounder in Georgetown, South Carolina
Early US Navy 24 Pounder at Georgetown, South Carolina
In 1991 a 24-Pounder was found along the riverbank in Georgetown, South Carolina. This cannon is thought to have been one of another cast circa 1800 by Cecil Furnace near Harve de Grace, Maryland. Olmstead/Stark/Tucker’s The Big Guns believed that they were manufactured as part of the 1794 act of Congress which authorized the construction of the US Navy’s “Six Frigates”. As Olmstead et al. note “They have low trunnions with partial rimbases, no breeching ring, and proportions suggesting French design” (pg. 34, drawing on pg. 33). The trunnion diameter is (at least approximately) the same as the bore diameter.
The 24-Pounder is now displayed in Joseph Rainey Park between Front Street and the river.
As the accompanying sign notes, it is not known why this cannon was in Georgetown. The cannon is marked with its weight, serial number, and a Federal Eagle.
The cannon is identical to two other guns preserved in Savannah, Georgia on the front of Poetter Hall of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Those guns may be seen on the Historical Marker Database entry.
Joseph Rainey Park in Georgetown, South Carolina. The cannon is just visible at left.
Joseph Rainey Park in Georgetown, South Carolina. The cannon is just visible at right.
A beautiful model of USS Constitution on display in Wilmington, NC
