| East Dubuque Local Area History Project | |
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by Fawn P. |
The Dubuque shot tower was built beside the Mississippi River near the ice harbor and the Star Brewery. The tower made lead shot, which was used in bullets made for the military. It was built in the year 1856 by the Rogers company. |
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| The tower could make at least two tons of shot a day. When it was finished it could make as much as eight tons a day. The only other shot manufacturers were in St. Louis, tried to lower their prices because they thought they could beat the shot tower’s prices. Because of the competition, the shot tower received better management by two stock holders named Cook and Langworthy. They sold their five cents stock to a man named J.K. Graves. | |
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Graves restarted the making of lead shot after discovering an underground lead mine. His stock holders finally decided to sue him for breaking a promise to stay more than 100 miles away from Dubuque. In the end, he was found not guilty because he had not use a shot tower. Then the shot tower was abandoned. A company named Standard Lumber Company started using the tower again, as a fire lookout tower. In 1911, a raging fire destroyed the lumber company and people in Dubuque started raising money to repair part of the tower. Even today, the lonely tower still sits next to the Mississippi River. |
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Bibliography Lyon, Randolph W. The Dubuque Encyclopedia. Dubuque: Iowa, Union-Hoermann Press, 1991 Photos Courtesy of Center for Dubuque History. Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa. |
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