Artillery shell found by electrical workers in downtown Charleston building likely not from the Civil War, experts say

Artillery round awaits removal in parking lot. (Charleston Police)

[Updated Feb. 6]

It appears an artillery shell found in the basement of a Charleston, S.C., building may not be from the Civil War after all.

Roads were closed for a few hours Wednesday after workers found the round at an empty building on Gillon Street, Charleston police tweeted. A U.S. Air Force explosive ordnance disposal team (EOD) took custody of it. In most such cases, a shell is then destroyed.

Initially, police tweeted the shell was postwar, but a second tweet in the afternoon indicated it was determined to be from the Civil War.

The facility manager at the nearby Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon told the Post and Courier that the ordnance looked like an 8-inch round for a Civil War Parrott gun.

But Tony Youmans told the Picket on Thursday he later asked a retired historian at Fort Sumter about it. In turn, an artillery expert in the area weighed in.

"It turns out that the round is definitely post- American Civil War, either Spanish-American, WWI or WWII," Youmans said. "They believe WWI most likely. For reference, we do have an 8-inch Union Parrott round on display."

Jack Melton, who publishes the Civil War News and the Artilleryman magazine, told the Picket that while he couldn't immediately identify it, he believes the round is from World War I or later.

The Charleston newspaper said electrical workers found the shell in the corner of the basement and one carried it out to the parking lot, where they decided to call police.

“To me, what’s really scary is the fuse is in place, Youmans told the Post and Courier. 

The Picket reached out to Charleston police for comment.

Reward jumps to $30,000 in search for stolen gun presented to Lincoln's war secretary

(Photos: Harrisburg, Pa. police)

The owner of 1860 Henry repeating rifle stolen three years ago from a Pennsylvania museum is now offering a $30,000 reward for any information leading to its recovery.

The private collector increased the reward by $10,000, Harrisburg police announced recently. Pennlive.com last year said the rifle is valued at between $400,000 and $500,000.

The rifle and two revolvers taken from the National Civil War Museum in February 2016 were presented to Simon Cameron, Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war from March 5, 1861, to Jan. 14, 1862.

While the revolvers were owned the city, the rifle was on loan as part of the “Guns and Lace” exhibit sponsored by the National Rifle Association. The thief used a sledgehammer to break a window and display cases.

WPMT-Fox43 said one of guns is a .44-caliber army revolver, while the other is a .36-caliber Colt 1861 Navy revolver.

Police asked that anyone with information about the rifle should call them at 717-558-6900.