Dubuque Shot Tower

If you’re anywhere near the Riverwalk in Dubuque, I encourage taking a stroll all the way down the river and back. You get to see awesome things (that you might not otherwise see) like the Dubuque Shot Tower, Stone Cliff Winery (old Star Brewery building), etc.
Dubuque is home to the last remaining shot tower in the U.S. west of the Mississippi. The tower was built in 1856 to provide lead shot for the military. The shot tower struggled almost immediately due to economic downturn from the Panic of 1857. When the Civil War broke, the Union Army purchased shot from towers in St. Louis, Missouri. A St. Louis company, Chadbourne & Co., purchased the Dubuque tower, but did not use it. After the war, the Standard Lumber Company used it as a fire watchtower.
The tower was abandoned after a series of fires in 1911 destroyed the local lumber industry and damaged the tower’s wooden interior. In 1976, the tower was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Repairs soon followed, and in 2004, the Shot Tower became part of ongoing riverfront renovations.
⁴⁄₅ because you can’t see the inside. Still educational and worth seeing in person.

Read Jerry M’s review for the applicable history. I admire your commitment to history, Jerry, and your contribution to enriching Unilocal.
Three stars because you don’t get to actually look inside. You just stare up at the outside, which is exactly like the picture. So now that you’ve read Jerry’s review and looked at the picture here on Unilocal,you have gotten the full experience.
It is very close to downtown, just over the bridge, so it is not an inconvenience to go.

The George W. Rogers Shot Tower was built in 1856. Shot towers were built for the manufacture of lead shot for the military. Molten lead, when dropped from a significant height, will shape itself into consistently sized spheres. The tower continued in lead shot manufacture until 1881 when better techniques were available to make ammunition and musket balls were more than obsolete.
The tower was sold to the Standard Lumber Company and was used as a fire watch tower until 1911, when it was (ironically) gutted by fire. The top portion of the tower was destroyed, and was replaced by well-​meaning restorers. (You can see the red brick near the top, out of character for the test of the tower.)
The tower is undergoing a renovation. At 120 feet, it is a distinctive shape on the Dubuque skyline and is a well recognized landmark. The shot tower is one of four known extant in the United States and the last one west of the Mississippi River. It was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1976.