One of only around a dozen First World War German cannons of its type which were, after capture, sent to the US for use as municipal monuments ---according to local lore. The story goes that Dayton, Virginia, had no especially good reason to be selected for getting a cannon monument, except that the town authorities were among the first to apply.
The presence of a semi-ruined concrete choir stage in the large lawn near the creek, along with the presence of the monument, led to speculation that a civic park was once present from the cannon-corner to the creek. However, at some later point a gas station appeared ---and surrounded the back and sides of the monument with its own paved parking lot.
***Speedy FTF goes to hodgesjl!***