kids encyclopedia robot

Jackson Ferry Shot Tower facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Shot Tower
Shottower wytheco.jpg
Jackson Ferry Shot Tower is located in Virginia
Jackson Ferry Shot Tower
Location in Virginia
Jackson Ferry Shot Tower is located in the United States
Jackson Ferry Shot Tower
Location in the United States
Location W of jct. of Rte. 608 and U.S. 52, Shot Tower Historical State Park, near Max Meadows, Virginia
Area 0 acres (0 ha)
Built 1807 (1807)
NRHP reference No. 69000286
Quick facts for kids
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 1, 1969

The Jackson Ferry Shot Tower is 75-foot (23 m) tall tower used for manufacturing lead shot located in Wythe County, Virginia and now adjacent to the New River Trail State Park, a lineal rail trail park connecting the historic towns of Pulaski and Galax, Virginia.

As one of the few remaining shot towers in the United States, the Jackson Ferry tower was constructed by Thomas Jackson and is the centerpiece of the Shot Tower Historical State Park. Construction began on the tower shortly after the American Revolutionary War and was completed in 1807. The tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 1, 1969.

Manufacturing process

Shot towers or shot factories were designed and constructed to manufacture lead shot for firearms. At the top of the tower, a firewood furnace melted lead with arsenic, which was poured through a sieve forming drops of lead corresponding to the size of the sieve. The lead droplets would fall 150 feet, become spherical, cool sufficiently to become rigid and drop into a large kettle of water at the bottom of the tower, completing the cooling process and providing a soft enough landing to keep the shot from deforming. The finished shot was then marketed to hunters, traders and merchants.

Design

The Wythe County Shot Tower is unique for several reasons. Unlike most other shot towers, which were constructed of brick, this shot tower was built of limestone. The 2.5-foot-thick solid stone walls not only made the Shot Tower an extremely strong structure, but kept its interior temperature cool and consistent, improving the quality of the shot it produced. Since the lead needed to free-fall around 150 feet to form proper shaped shot, the designers used the natural terrain to reduce the height of the tower they had to construct. They decided to build the tower on the edge of a cliff, and dig a vertical shaft 75 feet deep, which reduced the height required of the actual tower to 75 feet. Access to the bottom of the shaft was made by a horizontal adit that opened up near the shore of the New River.

kids search engine
Jackson Ferry Shot Tower Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.