Shot Tower (Dubuque)
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The Shot Tower located in Dubuque, Iowa is one of the United States' last standing shot towers. A National Historic Landmark and one of the recognized symbols of the city, it is located near East 4th and East 6th streets near the Mississippi River. The Tower can be seen from the riverwalk but is not accessible as of May 2004 because of construction.
History
The tower was built in 1856 to provide lead shot for the military. The concept of a shot tower solved the problem of how to produce many cheap, nearly perfect lead spheres of the right size to fit in a musket. To make lead shot, molten lead was poured into the top of the tower, where it passed through a grate. The droplets that fell from the grate had relatively uniform size, and the fall provided enough time for the liquid-metal droplet to form into a sphere before landing in the water below. The water cooled the lead to its solid state, retaining the spherical shape.
When superior ammunition manufacturing processes were developed, the tower lost its original purpose. It found a new one as the Dubuque lumber industry gained importance: a fire lookout post near the lumberyard. Fires had severely damaged the city's lumber industry.
The Shot Tower was abandoned as the lumber industry declined, but in 1976 was designated a historic landmark. Tuckpointing and repairs followed, and in 2004, the Shot Tower is part of the ongoing renovations to the riverfront.
Shot towers were a common manufacturing process around the world. One tower still remains standing in the Docklands of East London; however, the author knows little about its history or exact location.
