Captain Sigsbee's Bathtub-- Part 2: Here, There, Everywhere

In 1929, the bathtub was placed along the wall of the courthouse rotunda and remained there for the next 30 years.  When the courthouse was renovated in 1960 it was removed and shipped to the Findlay College Museum.

They stored it in an old cigar factory.  In 1974 it was turned over to the Hancock Historical Museum who put it in their basement.  It was recently retrieved and now can once again be viewed by visitors, though much of the enamel is gone.

It is currently not on display and probably won't be until 2015.

A Real Clean History.  --Cooter

Captain Sigsbee's Bathtub-- Part 1: Ugly and Ignored

From Roadside America.

Continued from September 10, 2016.

Captain Charles Sigsbee's bathtub from the USS Maine which had been blown up in Havana Harbor, arrived in Findlay, Ohio, on March 3, 1913, rusted and ugly after having been under water for 14 years.  Findlay was embarrassed and stored it in a municipal building.  A year later it was being used as the Findlay City hall's coal bin.

The city of Lima, Ohio, demanded it.  When local Spanish-American War veterans learned that Lima wanted it, they promised that they would bronze it and have it displayed at a local park.  Lima lost interest in it and so did the veterans.  The rusted relic was stuck in a display case in a little-used hallway of the Findlay courthouse.

It sat there for 15 years.  A janitor eventually put a "USS Maine Bathtub" sign on it so he wouldn't have to answer so many questions about it.

March 3, 1913, was 104 years ago today.

--BathingCoot

USS Maine's Bathtub-- Part 3: Urbana Gets Its Big Ten Inch, Findlay Stiffs Urbana

With the 1911 raising of the famous ship from the bottom of Havana Harbor, every Congressman wanted a piece of it.  Frank Willis, of Ohio, got Captain Sigsbee's enameled steel bathtub and planned to give it to his hometown of Urbana, but they refused it.  They said they would use it as a horse trough before they would ever display it.  Instead, they wanted one of the USS Maine's 10-inch shells from its main armament.

The neighboring town of Findlay said they wanted it.  So did Boston, Massachusetts which was Sigsbee's home town.  The Cincinnati Enquirer suggested that Findlay could sink the tub in the Ohio River.  Findlay persisted in its efforts to get the tub, which in the meantime was sitting in Urbana's mayor's chicken house, essentially held ransom until someone gave him that 10-inch shell the town wanted.

Findlay finally was able to get Frank Willis to get the Navy Department to give him that 10-inch shell.  When it arrived, Findlay got its tub, but stiffed Urbana on the freight charge.

Wonder If urbana Still Has Its 10-Inch Shell?  --CootTub

The Bathtub from the USS Maine-- Part 1: Everyone Wants a Piece of the Ship

From Factbites.

Yes, that USS Maine cited as a reason for the Spanish-American War when it blew up in Cuba's Havana Harbor.

It is located in the Hancock Historical Museum in Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio.

**  When the USS Maine was raised in 1911, every Congressman wanted a piece of it.

**  The courthouse janitor eventually typed a "U.S.S. Maine Bathtub" sign and attached it to the case because he got tired of explaining it to visitors.

**  Most of its enamel is gone, but it doesn't detract from the fact that it is from that famous ship.

--CootBath