A cannonball from the War of 1812 that went missing from the historic Lewes Cannonball House was found Thursday morning a few blocks away on the sidewalk outside the Zwaanendael Museum.
The Lewes Police Department was notified that the cannonball, which was welded into the foundation of the house on Pilottown Road, was missing on Feb. 17. Despite a Police Department Facebook post with over 500 shares, police had no leads as of Wednesday night, Chief Thomas Spell said.
Zwaanendael employee Devon Filicicchia spotted it on the sidewalk as she went into work Thursday morning. It seemed “intentionally put there for someone to come across,” she said.
Filicicchia joined Lewes Historical Society Executive Director Andrew Lyter, Spell and historic reenactors Greg Burton and Bill Hicks to announce the cannonball’s return Thursday at the Cannonball House. Spell said police have no suspect information at this time.
“You think of Lewes, you think of the Zwaanendael Museum, the Lightship Overfalls, and for me, I think of the Cannonball House,” Lyter said. “It’s a symbol of the community.”
The historical society is in the process of equipping all their buildings with security cameras, he added.
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The cannonball that went missing is actually a marker, welded into place in the 1970s, Lyter said. Burton further explained that, during the bombardment of Lewes on April 6 and 7, 1813, a different cannonball went through the foundation and into the ground under the house. That cannonball is housed in the museum.
The marker cannonball will be re-welded into the foundation of the Cannonball House, Lyter said.
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Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught