Phoenix Shot Tower (Baltimore, Maryland)

 tower, place with historical importance, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, 1820s construction, shot tower

A 215-foot tall round brick tower, this was once a defense plant -- hot metal would be dropped from the top of the tower into water in the base of the tower, forming shot. In recent decades, popular restaurants have occupied the ground level.

Wikipedia says that this was the tallest structure in the U.S. from 1828 to 1846.

Built in 1828 by the Phoenix Shot Tower Company, this soaring 215 foot structure is the last remaining shot tower of the three that accented Baltimore’s skyline in the 19th century. Shot pellets used as ammunition for muskets was produced by pouring molten lead through perforated pans from “dropping stations” high up in the tower. The swift passage of the lead droplets down the shaft rounded the pellets into shot. The “quenching tank” of water at the bottom cooled and solidified them.

(410) 396-5894
801 E Fayette St, Baltimore, MD 21202

www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2598

www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM4791

mht.maryland.gov/NR/NRDetail.aspx?NRID=80.