8 Civil War-Era Cannonballs Found in Holly Hill Home

HOLLY HILL, S.C. (AP) — Eight cannonballs found last week in Holly Hill are from the Civil War.

State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry tells The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg that SLED consulted a Civil War expert about the artifacts found in the crawl space of a home March 17.

Berry says the cannonballs were often used in pairs connected by a chain. They were fired at ships and the attached cannonballs would rip through rigging and masts.

A handyman found the cannonballs while doing repairs at the home and police and firefighters were called to the scene.

SLED agents used X-rays to scan the cannonballs and found they did not contain any explosives and were no threat to the public.