William Teleski and Jack O. Beynon with cannon in Waterloo Park (1948). Click the photo for more details.

According to the 1928 Waterloo Historical Society volume, a cannon was cast at Jacob Bricker’s foundry and used in the celebrations when Waterloo became incorporated as a village in 1857. The “Baby Cannon” was also used to honour Queen Victoria’s birthday every May 24th in the years that followed. Rumour has it that the cannon misfired down Princess Street and killed a spectator in front of the Huether Hotel. After the incident, the cannon wasn’t fired for years, but later found its home in the village’s Show Ground and was again fired for celebrations. Eventually the cannon’s carriage wore down, and “the children of the neighbourhood managed to roll the cannon about itself and after some years it reached one of the back yards” of the Show Ground. The 1928 volume indicates that the 1857 cannon was “rescued” and placed in Waterloo Park.⁵⁶ However, in 1895, the Waterloo County Chronicle reports that two cannons were loaned to the town from the “Dominion Government” and placed in West Side Park (Waterloo Park).⁵⁷

Colour postcard depicting "Baby Cannon"(1912). Click the photo for more details.

The “Baby Cannon” was originally mounted on a wooden carriage, but was later set into a stone platform. Throughout the 20th century the cannons continued to be vandalized and at one point, the larger canon was stolen and found in a University of Waterloo residence. In 1990, both cannons were refinished and mounted again in Waterloo Park.⁵⁸

Unidentified man sitting on cannon in Waterloo Park (c.1950). Click the photo for more details.

There are currently two cannons located in Waterloo Park and the exact origins of them are murky. Are these the two cannons loaned from the government? Did one of them come from Jacob Bricker’s foundry in 1857? Were there three cannons at one point? If so, what happened to the third? Was the “Baby Cannon” really cast at the Waterloo foundry, or was it one of the two cannons that arrived in 1895? Did the “Baby Cannon” really decapitate someone? Can the 1928 account be trusted? Many questions and local legends surround the cannons in Waterloo Park, and it’s one of those mysteries that will likely remain unsolved.