Sparks Shot Tower

Supplies of lead shot were imported from Europe before the Embargo Act of 1807. Plumbers Thomas Sparks, John Bishop, and James Clement built the tower to take advantage of the limited available supply. At the start of the War of 1812, the federal government became their major customer, buying war munitions, and Quaker John Bishop sold his part of the company to Thomas Sparks.[1]

Before the use of shot towers, shot was made in wooden molds, which resulted in unevenly formed, low quality shot. Shot towers work on the principle that molten lead forms perfectly round balls when poured from a high place. Molten lead at the top of the tower was poured through a sieve or mesh, forming uniform spherical shot before falling into a large vat of water at the bottom of the tower.

The 142-foot (43 m) tall brick tower is 30 feet (9 m) in diameter at its base, tapering to 15 feet (5 m) at the top. Originally used to produce shot for hunters, the tower produced ammunition during the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

The tower operated for over a century, closing in 1913. Four generations of the Sparks family owned the tower until 1903, when they sold it to the United Lead Company of Pennsylvania. The City of Philadelphia bought the site in 1913.[1] The tower is now managed by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation and is surrounded by a public recreation center and playground. It can be seen looking west from I-95.

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  1870 photo from the top of the tower toward the Delaware River
• 
  1880 Hexamer General Survey page on the tower
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  1973 Historic American Buildings Survey photo
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  Historical Marker

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sparks Shot Tower.

• Lead shot
• Phoenix Shot Tower
• Shotgun shell

• Listing and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
• Sparks Shot Tower at USHistory.org
• Waymark
• Listing and photograph at Philadelphia Buildings and Architects