THE SHOT TOWER OF NEW RIVER STATE PARK IN WYTHE COUNTY, VIRGINIA

On the bluffs overlooking the New River stands one of the most unique engineering marvels of the late 18th century, a Shot Tower.  In fact if you look carefully as you cross the New River on the high bridge of Interstate 77 you can see this brick tower.

Lead has been mined in this area of southwest Virginia since colonial days. William Herbert, a welsh expert ore smelter from Bristol England was recruited by the mine owners to come to Wythe County to create what was for the time, a disruptive innovation in the musket ball business. Hebert purchased the property in 1767 and a shot tower was completed sometime thereafter. Taking advantage of the river bluff location, the current tower is built on the top of a 75 foot shaft drawing cool air from the river bank. The design is based upon the "drop shot" process created in 1753 by William Watts in Bristol England. Thomas Jackson is credited for building the limestone tower in 1807.

The process involves hauling lead ore to the top of the tower by using block and tackle hoist pulled by draft animals.  The ore then would be smelted and arsenic added to make the liquified ore more pliable. Then the lead is poured into copper sizing sheets. These copper pans would have holes in the bottom sized to the caliber needed to make musket balls. The molten lead would drip through the holes and while falling 150 feet to the bottom of the tower shaft would cool into spherical shapes before landing in water pool where the lead would instantly harden. This process replaced the laborious process of using molds to make the musket balls individually, allowing musket balls to be mass produced.  In fact, the process continued well into the 20th century.  The Jackson Shot Tower is one of 31 existing towers across the world.

The Jackson Shot tower is located on a river bluff in the midst of the rolling mountain hills of southwest Virginia. When you go there, take time to visit the back roads and see the wonderful rural scenery. 

Interspersed among the working farms are various structures which are remnants of the historical significance of the area.  We found a couple of farm houses that caught our eye and wondered of the families who once occupied this now vacant homeplaces.

On a low ridge, we stumbled upon a small cemetery. Many graves were adorned with flags for the Veterans Day weekend. These graves honored two soldiers killed fighting in the civil war.  One grave notes the young man died in the battle of Chancellorsville while fighting for the "Wythe Grays" of the Stonewall Jackson brigade. 

One of the businessmen lured into the lead mining ventures in Wythe County Virginia was Moses Austin.  A shopkeeper from Richmond, Moses married into a mining family and soon moved to Wythe County. The town of Austinville grew around the mining business operated by Moses and his brother, Stephen.  Finding himself overextended and increasingly in debt, Moses looked to the Spanish territory in the west to find new lead deposits. Granted a land grant in modern day Missouri by Spanish authorities, Moses abandoned Stephen and moved west. Experiencing another business set back in Missouri, Moses again received a land grant from Spain, this time in Texas.  

Dying in 1821, Moses never moved to Texas, but his son Stephen did.  There Stephen F. Austin was instrumental in the founding of the Republic of Texas.  Few know that the "Father of Texas" was born in Wythe County, Virginia.  Fewer still know that his success in Texas can be attributed in part to the failure of his father's lead mining business in southwest Virginia.