Crews find 40-ton acid ball while demolishing Canton, NC paper mill

Crews demolishing the closed Canton paper mill in North Carolina uncovered a 30-foot-tall riveted steel sphere weighing about 40 tons, identified as an acid ball once used to store alum for cooking woodchips. Two Banks Development engineer Luke Williams says mill records suggest the sphere was built onsite, and an excavator attempt to remove it failed. Developers are discussing preserving it as a display piece along a planned riverwalk, with demolition still ongoing and more historical finds possible.