10 Historic Shot Towers around the World

(Photo: Damien Ramon Naidoo)

Once upon a time, to make lead round shot, nations and businesses would build shot towers. These are industrial sites sometimes hundreds of feet tall. Workers would drip molten lead from the top. These droplets would form spheres during their descent, then cool in that form when hitting a pool of water at the bottom. This technique permitted the mass production of adequately well-made ammunition.

Some of these shot towers still exist, such as Taroona Shot Tower, which is pictured above. The iron merchant Joseph Moir built it in Tasmania in 1870. The 150-foot tall tower is no longer active, but is well preserved and open to the public.

The beautiful Taroona Shot Tower is 1 of 10 well-preserved shot towers that still exist around the world. You can see others at Atlas Obscura.