After a six-decade vigil, the Clatsop County Courthouse cannon is receiving some overdue TLC.
On Thursday the County Board of Commissioners gave its approval to allow a local group of history-minded citizens to remove the historic weapon for a volunteer-driven restoration project.
The Japanese-made howitzer, a war trophy from World War II, has stood sentinel at the northeast corner of the courthouse since the 1940s. But time, the elements and vandals haven’t been kind to the old landmark. Rust has set in where the paint has flaked off, fixtures have been cracked, bent or broken off, and several spokes from one of the wooden wheels are gone.
“There was just growing embarrassment about it,” said Jerry Ostermiller, one of the project organizers, about he and the others’ dismay over the cannon’s deterioration.
The group decided that the dilapidated landmark reflected poorly on Clatsop County, particularly in a revitalized Astoria, but recognized that restoring old cannons is low on the list of the county’s spending priorities, Ostermiller said. They decided to take on the task of organizing a restoration campaign themselves, relying on volunteers and donations.
Ostermiller, the former executive director of the Columbia River Maritime Museum, researched the gun’s history and determined that the piece is most likely a Japanese Type 91 105-millimeter field howitzer. Designed in the early 1930s, it equipped Imperial Japanese forces in China and at most of the major battles of the Pacific Theater. It’s one of a number of artillery pieces captured by American troops and shipped to the United States after the war.
Despite its dilapidated appearance, the old gun is actually in relatively good condition, Ostermiller said. “They were built to take a lot of abuse,” he said of the 4,000-pound piece. “It’s pretty stout.”
The restoration effort will involve moving the piece to a sheltered location, disassembling it, stripping off the many layers of paint down to the bare metal, repairing or replacing damaged or missing components, then repainting it and returning it to the courthouse site.
“It should be simple enough, and with a little bit of supervision it should go well,” Ostermiller said.
The biggest challenge will likely involve fixing the iron-rimmed wooden wheels, one of which has lost half its spokes.
The project will also include providing some proper labeling for the gun. A bronze plaque affixed to the concrete bench in front of the cannon states that the piece was presented to the county in 1934 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. But the plaque actually refers to another artillery piece ? a bronze Civil War cannon ? that formerly occupied the site.
According to local lore, the original cannon was removed and melted down for its metal during World War II, Ostermiller said, and the current gun was given to the county by the U.S. military as a replacement after the war.
Displaying weapons ? particularly those of defeated enemies ? in public places is a tradition going back centuries, Ostermiller said. In the United States, especially on the East Coast, it was customary to place small artillery pieces in front of county courthouses as a symbolic sign of defense.
Some details of the restoration project are still being worked out, but the group hopes to have the cannon moved and the work underway within a month.
On Thursday the County Board of Commissioners gave its approval to allow a local group of history-minded citizens to remove the historic weapon for a volunteer-driven restoration project.
The Japanese-made howitzer, a war trophy from World War II, has stood sentinel at the northeast corner of the courthouse since the 1940s. But time, the elements and vandals haven’t been kind to the old landmark. Rust has set in where the paint has flaked off, fixtures have been cracked, bent or broken off, and several spokes from one of the wooden wheels are gone.
“There was just growing embarrassment about it,” said Jerry Ostermiller, one of the project organizers, about he and the others’ dismay over the cannon’s deterioration.
The group decided that the dilapidated landmark reflected poorly on Clatsop County, particularly in a revitalized Astoria, but recognized that restoring old cannons is low on the list of the county’s spending priorities, Ostermiller said. They decided to take on the task of organizing a restoration campaign themselves, relying on volunteers and donations.
Ostermiller, the former executive director of the Columbia River Maritime Museum, researched the gun’s history and determined that the piece is most likely a Japanese Type 91 105-millimeter field howitzer. Designed in the early 1930s, it equipped Imperial Japanese forces in China and at most of the major battles of the Pacific Theater. It’s one of a number of artillery pieces captured by American troops and shipped to the United States after the war.
Despite its dilapidated appearance, the old gun is actually in relatively good condition, Ostermiller said. “They were built to take a lot of abuse,” he said of the 4,000-pound piece. “It’s pretty stout.”
The restoration effort will involve moving the piece to a sheltered location, disassembling it, stripping off the many layers of paint down to the bare metal, repairing or replacing damaged or missing components, then repainting it and returning it to the courthouse site.
“It should be simple enough, and with a little bit of supervision it should go well,” Ostermiller said.
The biggest challenge will likely involve fixing the iron-rimmed wooden wheels, one of which has lost half its spokes.
The project will also include providing some proper labeling for the gun. A bronze plaque affixed to the concrete bench in front of the cannon states that the piece was presented to the county in 1934 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. But the plaque actually refers to another artillery piece ? a bronze Civil War cannon ? that formerly occupied the site.
According to local lore, the original cannon was removed and melted down for its metal during World War II, Ostermiller said, and the current gun was given to the county by the U.S. military as a replacement after the war.
Displaying weapons ? particularly those of defeated enemies ? in public places is a tradition going back centuries, Ostermiller said. In the United States, especially on the East Coast, it was customary to place small artillery pieces in front of county courthouses as a symbolic sign of defense.
Some details of the restoration project are still being worked out, but the group hopes to have the cannon moved and the work underway within a month.
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