Once
upon a time, to make bullets and cannonballs, nations and businesses
would build shot towers. These are industrial sites sometimes hundreds
of feet tall. Workers would drip molten lead from the top. These
droplets would form spheres during their descent, then cool in that form
when hitting a pool of water at the bottom. This technique permitted
the mass production of adequately well-made ammunition.
Some of
these shot towers still exist, such as Taroona Shot Tower, which is
pictured above. The iron merchant Joseph Moir built it in Tasmania in
1870. The 150-foot tall tower is no longer active, but is well preserved
and open to the public.
The beautiful Taroona Shot Tower is 1 of
10 well-preserved shot towers that still exist around the world. You can see others at Atlas Obscura.
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