Lindsay museum places plaque on historic cannon
Cannon is a gun from German ship SMS Cormoran
Walk along the City of Lindsay’s park and you won’t be able to help but notice a gigantic, gray metal piece of equipment most locals refer to as the “cannon.”
Lindsay Mayor Pam Kimball said the cannon, which is actually a ship gun from World War I, has a significant history behind it, and is much more than a six-letter nickname.
Kimball said the American Legion Post 128, which was created in Lindsay not too long after the end of World War I, obtained the cannon and brought it to the city to put in the park to commemorate the efforts of U.S. soldiers in the war.
Kimball said the cannon is specifically from a German ship called the SMS Cormoran, which she said the Germans destroyed in Guam Harbor for fear of it being taken by American Forces.
“Later, the [U.S.] Navy salvaged from that ship and Lindsay ended up with one of the guns and that is our cannon out at the park,” Kimball said, adding that the cannon is associated with the firing of the very first shot by American Forces in World War I on April 6, 1917.
In remembrance of not only Flag Day, but also the 100 years since America entered World War I, the Lindsay Museum and Gallery placed a commemorative historical plaque on the cannon in the city’s park Wednesday morning. Kimball said she is pleased to have the plaque.
“I think it is really great because I think the community deserves to know that this cannon has a significant history,” she said.