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.
Controversy
There have been claims that the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower predates the recognized year of 1807. The contention is that Moses Austin & his brother, Stephen Austin were producing drop shot in Wythe County prior to 1800 at the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower. This confusion stems from an ignorance of the geography of the area, coupled with the conflation of Moses Austin & Co. owning the lead mines -- which are in the vicinity of the future Jackson Ferry Shot Tower -- and owning a shot factory. Defenders of the pre-Jackson Shot Tower point to the same newspaper clippings shown to support their contention. However, a close look at the text and the geography of the region show that their contentions using these sources are not borne out in fact. There is no question that Moses Austin & Co were producing lead shot from the lead mined in the Austinville Lead Mines. This is evidenced by an advertisement in the August 31, 1791 issue of "The Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser". The advertisement states that the their prices had been lowered due to them "receiving their Lead now by water from Lynchburg". Lynchburg, VA is located on the James River, in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, ~120 miles upstream of Richmond, VA. The Jackson Ferry Shot Tower and the Austinville Lead Mines are located on the New River in the Ohio River watershed. Being in 2 different watersheds, water travel from Lynchburg, VA to Austinville, VA would have been effectively impossible. More evidence that production of shot by Moses Austin & Co. was located in Richmond rather than at this site is an article from the August 2, 1790 issue of "The American Mercury" newspaper. The article states, "The manufactory established within the city of Richmond, for making sheet lead and drop shot, is large, thought to be well constructed, and is worked with spirit." It is clear that drop shot is being produced in Richmond by Moses & Stephen Austin. Finally, an article in the 1922 William and Mary Quarterly contains letters from Gen. Edward Carrington to Alexander Hamilton that also locate the shot factory in Richmond, VA. The letters also indicate the lead mines are in the "Southwestern part of the upper Country".
