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BadNick · 11-09-2009, 06:06 PM

bingo, you found me, unc. You're up next.

I love ya, unc, but I was hoping amonkie would win since she's the new kid on the block..you know, make her feel wanted and stuff.

Sparks Shot Tower
Sparks Shot Tower looks like a smoke stack with a lid on top, but it's really America's first shot tower built in 1808. Shot towers revolutionized the making of musket balls and other solid projectiles based on the principle that molten lead will form perfect round balls when poured from a high place.

Until this discovery, gun shot was made by pouring the lead into wooden molds. Plumber Thomas Sparks and a partner created a 142-foot-high brick tower with a 30-foot circumference at its base tapering to 15 feet at the top. It stands along the Delaware River waterfront at Carpenter Street in South Philly and is easily seen from Route I-95.

The molten lead was poured through a mesh with different sized holes for different sizes of shot. The balls fell into a large container of water. The tower produced tons of ammunition during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Four generations of the Sparks family kept the tower in operation until 1903. The tower is now part of a city playground with a recreation center at the base. It's a prime example of Philadelphia's reputation for superb brickwork.

Here's the two cool pics I printed from Google Maps Street View, and then walking around the neighborhood until I could look up and see the Sparks Shot Tower:

unc, I just found out that this one in Baltimore was the tallest structure in the U.S. for about twenty years!:

Phoenix Shot Tower or later the Merchants Shot Tower, Baltimore, MD
Perhaps the most famous shot tower remaining is the Phoenix Shot Tower in Baltimore, Maryland. Erected in 1828, the tower is the last of four in Baltimore that were used for making shot, or lead pellets, used as ammunition in muskets. The shot was made of molten lead that was heated by furnaces inside the tower, poured through sieves at the top and dropped into tanks of water near the base.

The building is considered an engineering marvel because it took more than one million bricks to construct; it was erected in less than six months without the use of exterior scaffolding, and it stood as the nation's tallest structure for nearly two decades. When the building was threatened with demolition in 1921, a group of citizens bought it and gave it to the city for preservation.

At its peak, the tower produced up to 500,000 25-pound bags of shot a year, making it one of the nation's largest suppliers of ammunition. It operated until 1892, when rising costs forced the owners to abandon it.

Shot Towers were not uncommon in 19th century skylines. One of three in Baltimore was built on the corner of Fallsway and Fayette St. in 1828. The Phoenix Shot Tower Company of Baltimore constructed it without the use of scaffolding. Charles Carroll of Carrollton laid the corner stone. Molten lead was dropped from the top of the tower. As it fell, it formed balls. Water at the bottom would catch and cool the shot. The tower and surrounding plant was acquired by the Merchant's Shot Tower Company, who manufactured shot there until 1892.

Union Oil bought the factory in 1921 with the intention of tearing it down and building a gas station in its place. Public outcry saved the tower, and the gas station was built along side it. In 1924 Union Oil gave the Shot Tower to the city. It was restored in 1976 and opened to the public as a museum.

The Phoenix Shot Tower was a lead shot manufacturing facility that was in operation from 1828 to 1892. Molten lead was dropped from a platform at the top of the tower through a sieve-like device and into a vat of cold water. When hardened, dried and polished, the shot was sorted into 25-pound bags. Over 234 feet in height, the Shot Tower was the tallest structure in the United States until the Washington Monument in Washington, DC was completed after the Civil War.

The Shot Tower was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972.

11-09-2009, 06:06 PM	#8383 (permalink)
BadNick Riding the Ocean Spray Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa	bingo, you found me, unc. You're up next. I love ya, unc, but I was hoping amonkie would win since she's the new kid on the block..you know, make her feel wanted and stuff. Sparks Shot Tower Sparks Shot Tower looks like a smoke stack with a lid on top, but it's really America's first shot tower built in 1808. Shot towers revolutionized the making of musket balls and other solid projectiles based on the principle that molten lead will form perfect round balls when poured from a high place. Until this discovery, gun shot was made by pouring the lead into wooden molds. Plumber Thomas Sparks and a partner created a 142-foot-high brick tower with a 30-foot circumference at its base tapering to 15 feet at the top. It stands along the Delaware River waterfront at Carpenter Street in South Philly and is easily seen from Route I-95. The molten lead was poured through a mesh with different sized holes for different sizes of shot. The balls fell into a large container of water. The tower produced tons of ammunition during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Four generations of the Sparks family kept the tower in operation until 1903. The tower is now part of a city playground with a recreation center at the base. It's a prime example of Philadelphia's reputation for superb brickwork. Here's the two cool pics I printed from Google Maps Street View, and then walking around the neighborhood until I could look up and see the Sparks Shot Tower: unc, I just found out that this one in Baltimore was the tallest structure in the U.S. for about twenty years!: Phoenix Shot Tower or later the Merchants Shot Tower, Baltimore, MD Perhaps the most famous shot tower remaining is the Phoenix Shot Tower in Baltimore, Maryland. Erected in 1828, the tower is the last of four in Baltimore that were used for making shot, or lead pellets, used as ammunition in muskets. The shot was made of molten lead that was heated by furnaces inside the tower, poured through sieves at the top and dropped into tanks of water near the base. The building is considered an engineering marvel because it took more than one million bricks to construct; it was erected in less than six months without the use of exterior scaffolding, and it stood as the nation's tallest structure for nearly two decades. When the building was threatened with demolition in 1921, a group of citizens bought it and gave it to the city for preservation. At its peak, the tower produced up to 500,000 25-pound bags of shot a year, making it one of the nation's largest suppliers of ammunition. It operated until 1892, when rising costs forced the owners to abandon it. Shot Towers were not uncommon in 19th century skylines. One of three in Baltimore was built on the corner of Fallsway and Fayette St. in 1828. The Phoenix Shot Tower Company of Baltimore constructed it without the use of scaffolding. Charles Carroll of Carrollton laid the corner stone. Molten lead was dropped from the top of the tower. As it fell, it formed balls. Water at the bottom would catch and cool the shot. The tower and surrounding plant was acquired by the Merchant's Shot Tower Company, who manufactured shot there until 1892. Union Oil bought the factory in 1921 with the intention of tearing it down and building a gas station in its place. Public outcry saved the tower, and the gas station was built along side it. In 1924 Union Oil gave the Shot Tower to the city. It was restored in 1976 and opened to the public as a museum. The Phoenix Shot Tower was a lead shot manufacturing facility that was in operation from 1828 to 1892. Molten lead was dropped from a platform at the top of the tower through a sieve-like device and into a vat of cold water. When hardened, dried and polished, the shot was sorted into 25-pound bags. Over 234 feet in height, the Shot Tower was the tallest structure in the United States until the Washington Monument in Washington, DC was completed after the Civil War. The Shot Tower was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972.