The interpretive "sign of history" is on the opposite side of the historic markers attached to the brick outside.
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 were produced by pouring molten lead through perforated pans from "dripping 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.
The Shot Tower was a lead shot manufacturing facility in operation from 1828 to 1892. Known originally as the Phoenix Shot, then the Merchants' Shot Tower and now the old Baltimore Shot Tower, the red brick tower was erected in 1828. The Phoenix Shot Tower is 234 ft and 3 inches tall, located near the downtown and Little Italy areas of Baltimore, Maryland.
The tower produced as many as 500,000 25-pound bags of shot a year, and was one of the largest suppliers in the nation. Despite technological improvements, the principle of the "drop method" is still applied in the production of small shot. Modern towers less handsome and less sturdy have sprouted up in California, Illinois and Oklahoma.
Shot was produced here until 1892, when rising costs forced owners to abandon the tower. When the tower was threatened with demolition in 1921, a group of citizens purchased it and presented it to the City for preservation. It was converted into a museum in 1977 and forms the centerpiece of Shot Tower Park, in startling contrast to 9 North Front Street, the historic house as its side.
The tower was built with more than one million bricks. it was constructed in less than six months and built entirely without the use of exterior scaffolding.
This is a real roadside attraction as I discovered it by simply driving by it in my car. It was closed when I visited but it seems you can walk to the top and tours are available. There are four historical makers attached to the base. There is also a beautiful firefighter memorial at the base of the park and another NRHP structure to the right.
The following excerpt comes from Wikipedia (public Domain)
SOURCE
The tower was built by Jacob Wolfe using bricks manufactured by the Burns and Russell Co. of Baltimore. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid its cornerstone. The circular brick structure's walls are 4.5 feet thick from the bottom to about 50 feet up; then they narrow in stages of 4 inches each, until at the top the thickness is 21 inches.
The tower remained the tallest structure in the United States until 1846, when Trinity Church, New York was erected. It remained the tallest free-standing masonry structure in the world until 1864, when the Washington Monument in the District of Columbia was completed.
The shot tower was originally owned by the Merchant's Shot Tower Company. The company closed in 1898. In 1921 the tower was purchased for $14,500 by the Union Oil Company, which planned to tear it down and put a gas station in its place. After strong objections by the community, by 1928 enough money had been raised to purchase the tower and present it to the City of Baltimore.
The tower was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972.
40. The SHOT TOWER, Fayette and Front Sts., a tapering, cylindrical brick structure, 234 feet high, was once used in the manufacture of shot. Molten lead poured through a sieve at the top hardened into round pellets as it fell. Page 228; Maryland: A Guide to the Old Line State
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid its cornerstone. Over 234 feet high, the Shot Tower was the tallest structure in the United States until the Washington Monument in Washington, DC was completed after the Civil War. This type of building was rare even during the 19th century and today only eleven shot towers remain in existence. Of these four, the Shot Tower is the most outstanding example. This National Historic Landmark is also an excellent example of the simple elegance that can be achieved in the design of industrial architecture.
The Shot Tower is located at the southeast corner of Fayette and Front Sts. Once part of the Baltimore City Life Museums, the tower is currently not open to the public. SOURCE
About the Park
There is a semi-circular walkway which runs around the perimeter of the memorial. Inset in the brick pathway you will periodically find medallions, which in various languages, read Heritage Walk.
There are two National Register of Historic Places, the first is the Shot Tower and the second is the house at 9 North Front Street. The house is a Federal-Style home built during colonial times. Also, in the area are several interpretive displays which tell the story of the area and the formation of the park as it stands today.
When the town purchased the house at 9 North Front Street in 1971, it was to add to the newly developed Shot Tower Park.
One word of caution, I observed some shady characters early Sunday morning parading around, loitering here and there and generally just being suspicious. A couple of panhandlers approached me and I turned and left abruptly for my car.