July 4, 1912, was a momentous day for the city of Alpena, Michigan. Flags were everywhere, as thousands of local citizens and visitors eagerly awaited the unveiling of a cannon from a martyred American warship.

The story on how Alpena was honored to receive a cannon from the U.S.S. Maine--whose destruction fourteen years earlier had led to war between the United States and Spain--began in March 1912 when Congressman George A. Loud of Michigan forwarded to the Navy Department a series of resolutions from Alpena requesting "the loan of a piece of naval ordnance of historical interest." Two weeks later, Secretary of the Navy Truman H. Newberry informed Loud that the Navy Department would loan Alpena a six-inch gun recovered from the Maine after it had sunk.

Nearly a century later, the Maine cannon still sits in front of Alpena's city hall--a silent memorial to one community's effort to honor the loss of one of America's great warships and the deaths of so many of her sailors.

The story of how Alpena received the only gun from the Maine "awarded to any city in the country" is featured in the July/August 2008 issue of Michigan History, now on sale. For information call (800) 366-3703 or visit www.michiganhistorymagazine.com.

Updated 7/21/2008

Department of History, Arts and Libraries
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