This Land, Your Land

The state Division of Parks and Recreation confirms that Fort Macon State Park will fire its newly acquired cannon for the first time publicly this Saturday.

The exhibit dedication and firing ceremony will be at 11 a.m. at the state park in Carteret County, a news release says.

The gun replicates those sent to Fort Macon from the Norfolk Navy Yard during the Civil War to guard the entrance to Beaufort’s harbor. Cast with an interior liner, the replica is capable of firing blank gunpowder charges. It was mounted on the wall of the fort last month.

Students at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro built a sliding gun carriage of aluminum to hold the 4,200-pound, 20-foot cannon, which was manufactured in Maryland. Wooden carriages at the seaside fort deteriorate quickly in the salt air. The state parks saved about $20,000 through the students' work.