Cannon No 17 B & H Wilmington Light Infantry Bldg - Wilmington, NC, USA - Static Artillery Displays on Waymarking.com

This cannon is located on the south side of the grounds.

"What is that weird building on Market Street with the cannons on the roof?
Ben Steelman
StarNews
It started out as the John A. Taylor house, built around 1847 at what is now 409 Market St., Wilmington. Its marble veneer facade over pressed brick provided a conversation piece/residence for a local shipping executive. (Taylor operated a ferry across the Cape Fear River and owned a steamer called the Calhoun.)

In 1892, the house was bought by the Wilmington Light Infantry, a local militia unit, which used it as an armory until at least 1951. (It certainly looked like a fort, even without the cannons.)

Chartered in 1849, with many veterans of the Mexican War on its original rolls, the WLI (as it was universally known) was perhaps the most stylish military unit in the Cape Fear area. Young men from socially prominent families clambered for the chance to wear its snappy uniforms. In 1861, the WLI joined other militia units under Capt. John Cantwell to seize Forts Johnston and Caswell at the mouth of the Cape Fear River — even before North Carolina seceded from the Union. The unit saw service in the Civil War (as Company G of the 18th North Carolina Infantry), in World War I (first manning Fort Caswell as part of the Coast Artillery, then in France as part of the American Expeditionary Force) and in World War II (when it was deployed to the Caribbean island of Aruba as an anti-aircraft unit).

On Nov. 10, 1898, a white mob — many of whose members were apparently WLI members in mufti — used the WLI armory as a staging area, gathering there before marching to the offices of the black-owned Wilmington Record, which it proceeded to burn. That attack was the first round the “Wilmington Riot” or insurrection of 1898 that toppled the city’s elected, biracial government.

And the cannons? Those were installed in 1902. The guns on the lawn are Spanish ordnance, with cannonballs, captured during the Spanish-American War. (The WLI was activated for that conflict, which ended before it could be deployed — much to the disappointment, apparently, of many of the members.) The four cannons on the roof have been identified as lifesaving guns, used by coastal lifesaving crews to fire lifelines to grounded or stranded vessels in storms.

In 1951, the WLI deeded its armory to the City of Wilmington for use as a public library, in return for $500 and the right to use a basement room as their meeting hall. The New Hanover County Public Library occupied the building from 1952 until 1981, when it moved to its present headquarters in the former Belk-Beery building at Third and Chestnut streets. The building then housed the city’s planning offices for a number of years.

In 1996, Wilmington deeded the building to the adjoining First Baptist Church, in exchange for two vacant suburban lots that the city planned to use for fire stations. The surviving members of the WLI, now mostly elderly, retained their meeting hall. The church now uses the building for Sunday school classes."


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What type of artillery is this?: cannon Where is this artillery located?: Other Artillery is no longer operational: no Still may work: no What military of the world used this device?: Not listed Date artillery was in use: Not listed Date artillery was placed on display: Not listed Parking location to view this Waymark: Not Listed Cost?: Not Listed Are there any geocaches at this location?: Not listed

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Two pictures are required for this Waymark. Please take a close up picture of the artillery. Take a second with the artillery in the distance and capture as much of the surroundings as possible. Name the Waymark with first the name of the area and second what the artillery is. An example would be if it were a cannon in front of the Montgomery Armory you would name the Waymark: Montgomery Armory Cannon.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/30/2019 NCDaywalker visited it