HOUSTON – Officials are investigating a cannonball found underneath a street in downtown Houston Thursday afternoon, according to Harris County Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen.
Rosen said construction workers located the 80-pound cannonball during a construction project around 4 p.m.
Caroline and Preston Streets were briefly shut down while crews investigated the area.
Officials also had to briefly evacuate the first two doors of the Harris County Juvenile Justice Center, which sits adjacent to the area, during the investigation.
Officials said the cannonball was eventually transported to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Academy to detonate.
KPRC’s Keith Garvin spoke with Houston historian Mister McKinney of Mister McKinney’s Historic Houston, who has lectured on Houston’s past for two decades and offers free public tours on his open-air Houston History Bus.
Mister McKinney shed some light on where the 1860s cannonball may have come from in the video player above.
Cannonball estimated to weigh 80+ lbs. Discovery made underneath Caroline Street (approximately where you see the construction workers standing in first pic) during Harris County construction project. 18’ down, 18’ from curb. #hounews pic.twitter.com/tG64yy7SIP
— Constable Alan Rosen Harris County Pct. 1 (@Pct1Constable) June 17, 2021
This is a developing story.