Pair of Civil War era Cannon - Columbia County Courthouse, Dayton Washington
Posted by: TheBeanTeam
N 46° 19.261 W 117° 58.717
11T E 424662 N 5130181
This pair of cannon stand vigil in front of the 1881 courthouse in Dayton Washington.
Waymark Code: WM4EED
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 08/12/2008
Views: 39
According to a Washington State History Essay by By Phil Dougherty at historylink.org (
visit link) the "two Civil War-era cannons were installed on either side of the walkway" in 1915.
The cannon were operational during World War 1 when some pranksters set off the cannon shattering the front windows of the courthouse.
From the Historylink essay:
"The Cannon Boys
On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war against Germany and entered World War I. That month, Dayton held a Patriotic Day celebration. One of the courtyard cannons was loaded with powder for display, but it was not fired during the celebration. That night, after the festivities ended, three high school boys decided to fire off the cannon as a practical joke. To ensure that as many as possible in the town would hear the explosion, the boys added extra powder to what was already in the cannon.
The cannon went off with such force that nearly all of the windows in front of the courthouse were shattered. The boys owned up to the stunt and agreed to pay for damages. But the citizens of Dayton forgave the trio and ended up raising a fund to help "The Cannon Boys," as they became known, pay for the repair costs. "