Shot Tower

Shot Tower is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, dedicated 1997.

Carpenter & Front Sts., Philadelphia

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First in the nation. Built 1808 by Thomas Sparks & John Bishop to make hunting shot, it symbolized a new U.S. industrial independence. Bishop, a Quaker, sold his share when ammunition was made here for the War of 1812. The Sparks family stayed in control until 1903.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1779 · A plan of the city and environs of Philadelphia : with the works and encampments of His… (Historical map archives, georeferenced via Allmaps)
1796 · Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1814 · Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1826 · Philadelphia And Adjacent Country (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland, 1807, covering the location of Shot Tower, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland, 1807, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

More markers nearby

John Page Nicholson (1842-1922)same spot
Schuylkill Arsenalunder 1 mi
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphiaunder 1 mi
Marian Andersonunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

St. Anthony de Padua Parish School230 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.