A lead shot tower in Iowa County
Shot Tower
The Shot Tower, constructed between 1831-1833 is located at Tower Hill State Park. Used for the production of lead bullets or shot, the Tower consists of a wood frame "melting house" which rises from a ledge about a third of the way down the side of a steep bluff. The tower covers a 120 foot vertical shaft dug through the ledge to the base of the bluff. At the base of the cliff lies a horizontal tunnel 90 feet in length, leading to the base of the shaft. The tunnel and shaft were hand dug, the principal tools being the lead-miner's pick and gad. Both the tunnel and shaft are approximately six feet in diameter. At the bottom of the shaft is a round basin of water about three feet deep. Carefully measured balls of molten lead were dropped down the shaft and plunged into water to create rounded lead shot.
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