{"nrhp_refnum":"69000286","name":"Shot Tower","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"W of jct. of Rte. 608 and U.S. 52","address_restricted":false,"city":"Max Meadows","county":"Wythe County","state":"VA","lat":36.87015742900007,"lon":-80.87032454799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-10-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A seventy-five foot square limestone shot tower with a pyramidal roof, located near Max Meadows in Wythe County, Virginia, overlooking the New River. It was built about 1807 by Thomas Jackson.","why_significant":"The tower was built to make commercial shot from lead mined at Jackson's Austinville mines, supplying frontiersmen and settlers. It is one of only three shot towers remaining in the United States and possibly the only one of its kind in the world. The form describes it as a relic of an industry essential to opening America's frontier.","narrative":"Rising seventy-five feet above the New River near Max Meadows, this square limestone tower was built about 1807 by Thomas Jackson to manufacture shot. Its walls are two and a half feet thick, the base measures twenty feet on a side, and a pyramidal roof tops the structure. Inside, wooden steps once led to a room with a fireplace and chimney, where molten lead was poured through a sieve into a shaft sunk seventy-five feet below the floor. The shot fell into a kettle of water, since the long drop was thought necessary to give it a round shape. A tunnel connected the shaft to the riverbank. Jackson used lead from his Austinville mines, four miles away, and the site sat near a ferry and a main regional road. Because no war was underway, the military market was small, so the shot served frontiersmen and settlers. It is one of only three shot towers remaining in the United States and possibly the only one of its kind in the world.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Thomas Jackson","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is listed as fair, and the structure is owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia (Division of State Parks) and used as a historical park/museum.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.690277-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/6842/41684233/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000286.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000286/71a5ff5347-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000286/71a5ff5347-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Virginia State Parks staff","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NRT_-_Shot_Tower_(7693156992).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Virginia State Parks staff</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NRT_-_Shot_Tower_(7693156992).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684233","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ferry_Shot_Tower","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6117101"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/wythe-county/shot-tower-69000286/"}