USS MAINE:
Her Many Last Resting Places

By Patrick McSherry (with the help of many contributors!)

For an article about a MAINE memorial plaque stolen from New York's Central Park, click here
Though the USS MAINE was sent to a watery grave in February of 1898,  She has lived on through the many artifacts that were recovered and given to towns, cities and organizations across the country

We encourage our readers to send us information on pieces of the USS MAINE that they come across in their travels. We will try to rebuild her, in a figurative sense, on this webpage! She is said to be the largest U.S. Navy vessel, since her masts are now tens of miles apart. Let's see how big she really is!

Relics of the USS MAINE and where they reside:

Mainmast - Arlington National Cemetery (link), Arlington, VA.
Foremast - Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.
Bow Anchor - Reading, PA.
Another Anchor - Arlington National Cemetery (link)
Anchor Chain Hooks - Newton City Hall, Newton, MA (Thanks to John Sargent)
Bowscroll - Bangor, Maine
Stern scrollwork nameplate - Smithsonian Institute, Museum of American History
    Washington. DC
Conning Tower Base - Canton, Ohio
Capstan - Battery Park, Charleston, SC.
Ship's silver service, Blaine House, (Maine's Governor's mansion) Augusta, Maine
6 in. 30 calibre deck gun - Navy Historical Center, Washington (DC) Navy Yard
6 in. gun, Alpena, Michigan
A gun - monument in Portland, Maine
Spare propeller - Navy Historical Center Washington (DC) Navy Yard
Pivot gun and winch - Navy Historical Center Washington (DC) Navy Yard
10" Turret Sighting Hood - Post Office, Key West, FL
Captstan - Silver Bow County Court House, Butte Montana.
Ventilator Cowl - Woburn Massachussetts
Ventilator Cowl - Rock Island, Illinois
Ventilator Cowl - Los Angeles, California
Steam Whistle - Larchmont, New York
Maine's Engine Room Funnel, Pompton Lakes, NJ, (in park on Hamburg Turnpike)
Bronze Plaque made from the vessel - Buchanan Park, Lancaster, PA .
Bronze Plaque made from the vessel - LaFayette Square, Gardner, MA (click here for
    more information on this park and its monument)
Bronze Plaque made from the vessel - USS OLYMPIA, Philadelphia, PA
Bronze Plaque made from the vessel - Berea, Ohio.
Bronze Plaque made from the vessel - Elyria, Ohio.
Bronze Plaque made from the vessel - city park by University Lakes, Baton Rouge, LA.
Bronze Plaque made from the vessel - Alpena, Michigan
Captain Sigsbee's bathtub from the Maine (link) - Hancock Historical Museum in
    Ohio.
The Maine commemorative bells (and you can even ring one!)
Key fob made from metal from the Maine.
Maine's Union Jack - Hampton Roads, Virginia - Click here for an article on the flag.
Life Preserver - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Port Hole Covers (two) - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Log Glass  - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Keys to the Magazines  - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Electric Light Bulb and Shade - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Bugle - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
1888 Penny from Sigsbee's desk - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Sigsbee's ink well - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Sigsbee's binoculars - Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
Small bronze ingot made from metal of the MAINE (see image at top of this page) - Private
    collecton in Lancaster, PA

 

This is a remarkable piece. It is the bowscroll of the USS MAINE which is in Davenport Park, which is on the corner of Main Street and Cedar Street a park in Bangor Maine. (Al Ross originally told us about this, and sent photos. The scroll was cleaned and refurbished during the centennial, and Peter Zelz sent us these photos of it in its refurbished state. The photos were taken by James Carlisle).

This is the  base of the USS MAINE's conning tower. It was located in Canton, Ohio's Waterworks Park. After extensive efforts and $30,000, the piece was cleaned up, a new base constructed and the monument was relocated to Canton's Westbrook Veterans Memorial Park (Rt. 177 at the corner of Harrison Ave. and 13th St., NW). The monument weighs 50,000 pounds! A French cannon and Spanish mortar taken by Dewey are located nearby in Stark County Veterans Memorial. (The photos and images are courtesy of Doug Perry, Canton Park Director).

Here we have the USS MAINE's ventilator cowl, now located in Woburn, MA. It is located inthe small, triangle-shaped park in the heart of downtown Woburn, where Rt. 38 (Main St) and Pleasant St intersect (Info. and photo courtesy of Tony Lewtas).


Another piece of interest is the USS MAINE's steam whistle. This piece now resides at the Larchmont Yacht Club, Larchmont, NY. The whistle was obtained by the club scarcely three months after the ship's loss though the Merritt salvage company (photo and info.courtesy of Larchmont Yacht Club).

This is one of many plaques made from bronze from the battleship MAINE. Each of the plaques weighs eight ponds, and one thousand plaques were reportedly made.
For more MAINE artifacts, click here!

Bibliography:

(As a service to our readers, clicking on title in red will take you to that book on Amazon.com)

Arseneau, Dale and Kay, Oscoda, Michigan, (6 in. gun and plaque in Alpena, Michigan)

Bannerman, Francis, "Catalogue of Military Goods", New York, 1903.

Blow, Michael, A Ship to Remember , (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1992).

Charter, C. J., (Info. on plaque at Gardner, MA)

Meyer, Eugene L., "The Maine Event," Washington Post, 1998. (Click here for a link to the article).

Ripley, Warren, "The Battery", Charleston, SC: Evening Post Publishing Co., 1977.

http://www.mpbc.org/TV/Shows/USSMaine/ussmaineinfo.html (info. on silver service and Portland, Maine gun)

Wade, James (info. on plaque at Baton Rouge)

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