The Jackson Ferry Tower is a magnificent
structure that stands 75 feet high, 25 feet by 25 feet at the base. The tower
is constructed of limestone that came from about a mile away. The walls are 2 ½
feet thick. At the floor of the tower there is an underground shaft that extends
another 75 feet to the level of the river, (New River). A Horizontal shaft was
built to allow the lead shot to be extracted for shipment.
Col. John Chriswell discovered that there was
lead in this area is 1757 and started a Mining Company to extract it. 24 years
after the revolutionary war a local business man by the name of Thomas Jackson
decided to build a Shot Tower to produce lead shot for firearms. It took 7
years to complete the tower, completed in 1807. There are very few of these
shot towers left in this country. The Jackson Ferry Tower is one of the most
unique for many reasons. Most were constructed of brick. The 2 ½ thick stone
walls of the Jackson Ferry Tower not only made the tower one of the strongest,
but it helped keep the temperatures cooler and more constant. This improved the
quality of the lead shot. The construction location was on the side of a Clift
so they could reduce the towers height to 75 feet by extending the shaft
underground 75 feet because 150 feet was required for the lead shot to form
into a ball
At the top of the tower a wood fire furnace
melted the lead that was then poured through calibrated sieves to separate the
lead drops to the correct lead shot size. Dropping 150 feet to cool on the way
down to form a round lead shot ball, dropping in a large kettle of water at the
bottom.
Dan Phillips the artist:
I first visited the Shot Tower as a boy with my
dad in the 1950’s. My dad explained to me what it was and what it was used for.
Listening to him talk about the tower sparked a love of history for me at that
young age.
I saw the tower before it was restored, before
there was a road to it, before there was a wooden fence, and before some of the
big trees were cut down.
In the 1970’s I worked for a sporting goods
company and traveled a territory of 8 states for 10 years. I stopped by the
tower often during that time. It seemed if I was in the area, I was drawn to
it. A quite place to sit enjoy the beauty of the area and think while listening
to the breeze rustle through the big trees next to this historical tower. It
was comforting.
Because of my love for history in the 1970’s, I
did weekly articles for a few small newspapers, the Bristol Tennessee Newspaper,
The Mountain Empire, The Southwest Times in Pulaski Virginia, the Virginia
Voice a Western Electric company newspaper. What I would do was find little
known historical buildings a sketch them and write a short article about them.
Most newspapers kept my original ink sketches but the Virginia Voice did not. I
did the Shot Tower sketch for them in 1981.
I had such an attachment to the tower that I
decided to have limited prints made on special 14”X16” paper, these were the
only prints I ever had made of any of my work. I didn’t market them but I sold
about 150 of the original numbered prints.
So now it is 2021, I just turned 73 years old and
I’ve decided to sell the remaining prints so others can maybe see and enjoy
what I saw in that tower. I’m far away from the tower now, I can’t drive to see
my old friend, but I can look at my sketch and remember sitting there in the
field seeing the tower through my eyes and putting what I saw on paper. This
shot tower sketch to me is a quiet place, a little bit of history, but mostly a
quiet place of reflection.