History of the Shot Tower

History of the Shot Tower. . For over 30 years the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower manufactured ammunition for a growing nation. It remains as a token of an era long gone, standing as a symbol of America's industrial sovereignty., English Immigrant Thomas Jackson, came to the United States through Baltimore to answer a call from Moses Austin, who was hiring experts in the vocation of mining and lead works. Jackson was an industrialist and experienced miner who brought with him the trade secret of "drop shot", a process that was refined by craftsman William Watts of Bristol, England., The Shot Tower took over five years to build and was completed in 1807. According to research and tax records it was the first factory to mass-produce shot on American soil. The ammunition produced here was for shotguns, particularly "fowling shot", for the local communities., Manufacturing at the tower ceased in 1839 thus ending it's grandeur as a producer of fine shot., (sidebar) , Drop Shot Process , . Workers would hoist the lead to the top of the tower by means of block and tackle which used livestock, ropes and a system of pulleys. , . Lead was smelted and arsenic added, making it more pliable and easier to pour into the giant sizing sieves. , . Sizing sieves were like big pasta strainers with different sized holes in the sieves. Using multiple sieves gave them the advantage of making more than one size of shot. , . Once the molten lead was poured into the sieve, it free fell through the tower into a kettle of water at the bottom. Water did not cool the shot; however, it acted as a cushion to prevent deforming the shot. , . The shot was then retrieved, dried, and polished with graphite to be sold on site or shipped down river to near by towns., (illustration) The tower stands 75 feet tall with a shaft in the center that goes an additional 75 feet into the ground, which made the total drop 150 feet , the necessary height to form a perfect round ball. At the base of the river was an access tunnel that would allow workers to retrieve shot from the bottom of the shaft., Norfolk and Western Rail Road Co. collapsed the tunnel when they brought the rail line through to prevent a potential catastrophe., Photo: Courtesy of WCC, W.R. Chitwood MD collection