Where in the World: The former shot factory

The Shot Factory was located on a cliff high above the Kentucky River about three-tenths of a mile upstream from the mouth of Boone Creek. The factory was 110 yards east of a picturesque little cascading stream called Berkley Spring Branch. This small manufactory produced buckshot for use in muskets and fowling pieces. (A fowling piece was an early version of shotgun used for shooting birds.) I first heard of a shot factory in the Boone Creek area more than 10 years ago, while working on a book about Grimes Mill. Local residents tell stories that echo memories of a dim past. In most descriptions, some type of metal was dropped from cliffs and fell into pools where balls of shot were collected. In some versions it was cannonballs that were produced. Historical records of this operation are exceedingly sparse. The method used for making lead shot, however, is well understood.

By Harry Enoch

March 23, 2012