18th century cannon discovered in Burlington City

BURLINGTON CITY, N.J. (WPVI) -- They have dug up an impressive chunk of history in Burlington City, New Jersey, and now they're investigating exactly what they've found.

When construction crews began digging next to Memorial Hall on High Street they didn't expect to find a rusted, 4.5' long, 1,000 pound, 18th century cannon.

"It's in fairly decent condition. It's obviously rusted, the things been sitting in the ground for 200 plus years will obviously start to corrode over time," military archeologist Jesse West-Rosenthal said.

Archaeologists from the State Office of Historic Preservation were called in to examine the cannon, which they say is in its day would have been mounted on a wooden rig, probably on a naval vessel.

"People have found cannonballs. We were fired on by the British during the Revolutionary War. It's not unusual for us to find items that date back this far," Burlington City Mayor Jim Fazzone said.

"It might have been a decorative cannon they had here at one time and just covered up," historian Jeff Macechak said.

The city owns the property where the cannon was unearthed, which is home to American Legion Post 79. Crews were digging there as part of a project to add a wheelchair lift to make the building handicap accessible.

The State Office of Historic Preservation is putting a temporary hold on the project while they figure out exactly what they've got and whether more excavation is needed.

"The idea right now is to get it preserved; we have something here that is potentially historic," West-Rosenthal said.

"There's no guarantee that there isn't a cannon shell inside. We don't know, a cannonball may be in there. We doubt that but we're going to move it very carefully," City Business Administrator Dave Ballard said.

The rusty cannon has been gingerly removed from the property and will sit in a facility away from the public while the experts dig up the history behind it.