CRL taking a shot at cannon restoration
The Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) at Texas A&M University is restoring cannons from the Castillo de San Marcos—the oldest masonry fort built in the continental United States.
by Heather Rodriguez ’04
Aggies are known for reloading cannons; now, we’re restoring them.
One of the cannons as it arrives at the CRL.
The Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) at Texas A&M University is restoring cannons from the Castillo de San Marcos—the oldest masonry fort built in the continental United States. Now part of a national park in St. Augustine, Florida, the fort has been home to 25 donated cannons of various ages, from 1690 to the 1840s. The first 14 cannons arrived to the lab last week.
“The last time these cannons were worked on was in the 1990s,” said Chris Dostal, a research assistant for the CRL. “They’re on the coast of Florida, and the salt could turn them into piles of rubble if we don’t keep them from corroding.”
Originally built by the Spanish in the 17th century to protect the harbor against pirates, the Castillo de San Marcos is located on the Matanzas bay. Since then, the fort has been under the control of the British and Americans forces until it was deactivated in 1933. Throughout that long history, cannons have come and gone, and what is known about them is sparse.
“Because these cannons were donated, we don’t know much information about them. They’re kind of a hodge-podge,” Dostal said. “Our graduate students will research them, and our goal is to give them back to the fort with more information than they came to us with.”
Dostal estimates the restoration process will take anywhere from six months to two years, depending on the amount of corrosion.
“Cast iron is a porous metal on a microscopic level, so the salt can get in there pretty deep,” he said. “The treatment will get all the salts and corroding products out of the metal but we can’t know how long that will take. It really depends on the individual cannon.”
The restoration project will cost an estimated $458,000.
“What’s really cool about this project is that it’s being paid for out of ticket sales to the park instead of it being a tax-payer burden,” Dostal said. “That’s really rare.”
The cannons from the Castillo de San Marcos aren’t the only cannons the CRL is working on. They are also conserving cannons from the Alamo and the CSS Georgia, a Civil War ironclad.
“I think we are working on 20 cannons at the moment, so we’re definitely the best-armed lab in the country,” Dostal joked.