80 Pound Cannon Ball Found Buried in Downtown Houston

I've never owned a metal detector, but I have heard of some pretty amazing stories about some of the things that Texans find buried underground throughout the Lone Star State. With as much history as we have had in Texas, there are bound to be some pretty cool discoveries in lots of places.

For example, over in Houston last week, a civil-war era cannonball was discovered buried beneath the ground, and for a time, was treated as if it was a piece of live ordinance according to KHOU.com as seen in the video above.

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From buried treasure to antique firearms, to cannonballs, a state that dates back as far as Texas does is bound to have some secrets buried in the ground. The video below gives us a closer look at the 80-pound cannonball that measures about 10 inches in diameter and dates back to the American Civil War. Check it out below.

The Harris County Sheriffs' office says the cannonball was discovered at a construction site in downtown Houston, about 18 feet underground. Upon inspection, the cannonball was discovered not to have a fuse or explosives left inside. The Sheriff's office published the video below to Twitter yesterday.

Officials in Houston say they would not be at all surprised if this is not the last cannonball that is discovered underground. Many historians in Houston have described the scene after the Civil War as chaotic at best. Fear stretched between Houston and Galveston about what the mood of returning soldiers would be and there was an effort to get rid of weapons before Union soldiers arrived in the area after the war. Can you imagine the scramble to hide tons of cannonballs like the one found last week?

Have you ever made any cool discoveries with a metal detector? What did you find and where did you find it? Let us know by using the chat button on our station app or by commenting on our Facebook page.