We were walking around the state capitol grounds in Columbia, and to avoid some landscaping work being done, we took a turn on a different path from the usual route, then found this…
…at almost a 2 hour drive from the coast, I was very surprised to see a piece of naval history here like this recovered deck gun from the USS Maine. After some further research, I learned that the Maine is probably the single most likely source for ship artifacts to be found anywhere, as after it was refloated, numerous pieces of the Maine were removed and sent all around the United States to be used as memorials to the Spanish American War, the sinking of the Maine being the most iconic image of the events leading up to that war. Now there are parts of the Maine residing in a dozen states, on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as in states as far inland as Indiana.
