The Maine State Police Bomb Squad this week retrieved more than 40 potentially explosive cannonballs from several historical collections in Castine.
According to the Castine Historical Society, staff discovered two unexploded black powder cannonballs dated to the War of 1812 in storage and alerted Maine State Police, who sent the bomb squad.
Castine Historical Society and Wilson Museum
The team found 17 additional cannonballs for testing, and over two dozen more at the nearby Wilson Museum.
Two of the larger cannonballs survived detonation by the bomb squad, and will be returned to the historical society. The smaller cannonballs will be tested in the spring.
