DescriptionShot factory, East River, Manhattan.jpeg
English: At 53rd Street.
Caption: "SHOT TOWER. (East River.)"
Credit line: "Drawn by Lundie. Engraved by Dick."
Text, pp. 17-8, reads in part: "It is about four miles and a quarter from the city, and rises to the height of one hundred and fifty feet in one of the pleasantest spots on the island. It was erected a few years ago by Mr. George Youle, and is the only structure of the kind near New York.…The molten metal is poured through a sieve, from the furnaces situated at and near the summit, and thence falls into a reservoir of water at the bottom. In the descent it is hardened without injury to its rotundity.…The exterior…contrasts finely with the neighboring seats, some half buried under masses of luxuriant foliage.…[S]ometimes a road winds down to the shore and and leads to rural abodes fitted up for the entertainment of throngs who escape for a few hours from the town to enjoy the breath of the fields, the woods, and the river.…The garden and hotel adjoining the tower are at present kept by Mr. Hilton, from whose grounds the view was taken."
According to Ramirez, Jan Seidler (ed.) Painting the Town: Cityscapes of New York (New York: Museum of the City of New York, 2000), p. 102, it was built in 1823 to replace Youle's 1821 tower, which collapsed after only a few months. This one was probably designed by John McComb, Jr., and lasted a hundred years.
Also at: Museum of the City of New York collections 29.100.1981.
Author
Drawn by Lundie. Engraved by Archibald L. Dick.
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