Jackson's Ferry and Shot Tower

Jackson's Ferry and Shot Tower is a Virginia historical marker in Wythe County, dedicated 2000.

Rte. 52, 7.7 miles southeast of Fort Chiswell

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By 1770 Capt. William Herbert had established a ferry across the nearby New River that became known as Jackson's Ferry. Thomas Jackson erected the 75-foot shot tower in the early 1800s to manufacture shot for firearms. The Austinville mines supplied lead for this business. Molten lead was dripped though a sieve from the top of the tower, then fell through the structure and an additional 75-foot shaft beneath the building into a kettle of water. While falling, the lead cooled and developed into shot pellets; the water cushioned the fall. The shaft was connected to the riverbank by a tunnel though which the shot was carried and then loaded onto boats.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

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

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1776 · Carte nouvelle de l'Amérique Angloise contenant tout ce que les Anglois possédent sur… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower center sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1814 · Kentucky (Mathew Carey, 1814) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1829 · Tennessee (A. Finley, 1829) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1889 · Hillsville, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

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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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Jackson's Ferry and Shot Tower

Historical maps covering this location

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