By Stan Welch
Arrangements are being made to provide for the proper care and maintenance of the town’s historic cannon, according to Mayor Mack Durham. Durham, Anderson County officials and representatives of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, will meet next week at the Anderson County Historic Courthouse to finalize the arrangements.
The plan calls for the cannon to be housed at the Citadel Campus in Charleston during the college’s normal term, and will be cared for and maintained by the school’s gun crew. The gun will also be fired at appropriate times and will be properly maintained. During the school’s summer furlough, the cannon will be returned to the Anderson County Museum for display.
The cannon will also be made available to the Town of Williamston for various historic and ceremonial displays and firing. The Citadel gun crew will transport the cannon at all times, and will perform any ceremonial firings.
The cannon was once mounted on a concrete mount, and was stolen from that location. Many years later, the town somehow reacquired it. Some incidents which have occurred while the cannon was in the custody of a reenactment unit had led the town council to restrict its transport to sites within Anderson County.
“We just felt that the cannon reflected our local history and that it shouldn’t be hauled all over the place. Personally, this agreement brings me a great deal of peace of mind. I know that the Citadel crew will handle this beautiful, historic weapon with the care and respect that it deserves,” Durham said.
