Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
SHOT TOWER
SHOT TOWER. The production of lead shot for military or individual use with a tower was patented by William Watts on September 28, 1782. (1) Lead was heated until molten and then dropped through a copper sieve high in the tower. The liquid lead solidified as it fell and by surface tension formed tiny spheres. The partially cooled balls were caught at the floor of the tower in a water-filled basin. The fully cooled balls were checked for roundness and sorted by size; those that are "out of round" were remelted. A slightly inclined table was used for checking roundness. To make larger shot sizes, a copper sieve with larger holes was used. The maximum size was limited by the height of the tower; larger shot sizes must fall farther to cool. (2)
The shot tower of George W. Rogers & Co. stood on an extension of Seventh street. Rising to a height of about 150 feet — 142 feet of stone and 42 of brick, the tower's base was 18 feet 10 inches. At the base walls were three feet thick and twenty inches at the top. The cost of construction by 1856 was $7000.00 and would rise eventually to $10,000. When completed, the tower could be used to produce from six to eight tons of shot. (3.)
It was built and operated with the intent on ending the monopoly in shot production enjoyed by Chadburne and Forster of St. Louis, Missouri.
In response to the tower, the St. Louis firm cut its prices below the cost of production to destroy their Dubuque competitor. Despite lease of the tower to the Pelig Tallman Company in 1859 and new management by Langworthy and Cook, discouraged stockholders sold their shares to Julius K. GRAVES for as little as five cents on the dollar. Graves threatened to resume shot production and then sold his shares to Chadburne and Forster for fifty cents on the dollar.
Graves resumed the production of shot after finding a deep mine shaft into which the molten lead could be poured. He was sued by Chadburne and Forster for breaking a contract that he would not manufacture shot within one hundred miles of Dubuque.
Graves' plan was apparently a popular one. As indicated in the article from the Dubuque-Herald of August 5, 1862, other enterprising Dubuque residents copied his ingenious idea. Graves was found innocent because he had not used a shot tower in the process. The St. Louis firm then abandoned the tower and their attempts to silence their Dubuque competitors.
A statue of Andrew Jackson was placed on the tower by John Deery in 1874 and was not removed until 1881. The STANDARD LUMBER COMPANY used the tower, with a glass-enclosed shelter on the top, to safeguard up to seven blocks of lumber.
Disastrous fires set by arsonists in 1911 ruined the company and destroyed the inner wooden framework of the tower.
Abandoned to the elements, the tower deteriorated. In 1959 concerned citizens rallied behind an S.O.S. (Save Our Shot Tower) campaign. Canisters were placed in restaurants and stores asking for money. When the drive ended in February 1960, $6,700 had been contributed including $25 from U. S. Grant III, the grandson of the CIVIL WAR general. The Dubuque City Council appropriated $5,000. Repairs, including tuck pointing both the interior and exterior and repairing the windows, were estimated to cost $11,000.
Source:
1. Minchinton, Walter. "Lead Shot Towers Around the World," History Today, November 5, 2013. Online: http://www.historytoday.com/walter-minchinton/lead-shot-towers-around-world
2. "Shot Tower Lead-Melting Bowl," Wisconsin Historical Society. Online: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/artifacts/archives/003290.asp
3. Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-13-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml