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Line 1: {{Infobox U.S. County\| [[Image:Shottower_wytheco.jpg\|right]]The [[Shot tower]] located in [[Wythe County, Virginia]], is one of only a handful remaining in the [[United States]]. The shot tower was built by [[Thomas Jackson]] shortly after the [[American Revolutionary War\|Revolutionary War]], and was completed in [[1807]] after around 7 years of construction. This shot tower is unique because of its construction and ___location. county = Frio County\| state = Texas \| seal = \| map = Map of Texas highlighting Frio County.svg \| map size = 250\| founded = 1871\| seat = [[Pearsall, Texas\|Pearsall]] \| area = 2,938 [[square kilometre\|km²]] (1,134 [[square mile\|mi²]]) \| area land = 2,935 km² (1,133 mi²) \| area water = 3 km² (1 mi²) \| area percentage = 0.11% \| census yr = 2000\| pop = 16,252\| density = 6\| web = \| \|}} '''Frio County''' is a [[county]] located in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Texas]]. As of [[2000]], the population is 16,252. Its [[county seat]] is [[Pearsall, Texas\|Pearsall]][[Geographic references\|<sup>6</sup>]]. Frio County is named for the [[Frio River]]. ~~===Purpose===~~ The purpose of the shot tower was to produce [[lead]] shot to be used in [[firearms]]. Firewood and lead were taken to the top of the tower, where a furnace was fired to melt the lead. The molten lead was then poured through a sieve, which would form individual drops of lead of a specific size. Different sieves were used to produce shot of varying size. The molten drops would then free-fall 150 feet, during which they would become spherical in shape, and cool enough to become rigid. A large kettle full of water at the bottom would finish the cooling process, and provide a soft enough landing to keep the shot from deforming. ==Geography== ~~The finished shot was then sold to hunters, traders and merchants.~~ According to the [[United States Census Bureau\|U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of 2,938 [[km²]] (1,134 [[square mile\|mi²]]). 2,935 km² (1,133 mi²) of it is land and 3 km² (1 mi²) of it (0.11%) is water. ===~~Design~~Major Highways=== [[Image:I-35.svg\|20px]] [[Interstate 35]] The Wythe County Shot Tower is unique for several reasons. Unlike most other shot towers, which were constructed of brick, this shot tower was built of limestone with walls 2.5 feet thick. The thick, solid stone walls not only made the Shot Tower an extremely strong structure, but kept its interior temperature cool and consistent, improving the quality of the shot it produced. Since the shot needed to free-fall around 150 feet to form proper shaped shot, the designers decided to use the natural terrain to reduce the height of the tower they had to construct. They decided to build the tower on the edge of a cliff, and dig a vertical tunnel 75 feet deep, which reduced the height required of the actual tower to 75 feet. At the bottom of the vertical tunnel was a horizontal access tunnel that opened up near the shore of the [[New River]], whose erosion had formed the cliff over millions of years. [[Image:US 57.svg\|20px]] [[U.S. Highway 57]] [[Image:Texas 85.svg\|20px]] [[State Highway 85 (Texas)]] [[State Highway 173 (Texas)]] ===~~External~~Adjacent ~~link~~counties=== [[Medina County, Texas\|Medina County]] (north) ~~[http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/docs/shottower.pdf Shot Tower Historic State Park Brochure]~~ [[Atascosa County, Texas\|Atascosa County]] (east) [[La Salle County, Texas\|La Salle County]] (south) [[Dimmit County, Texas\|Dimmit County]] (southwest) [[Zavala County, Texas\|Zavala County]] (west) ==Demographics== As of the [[census]][[Geographic references#2\|<sup>2</sup>]] of 2000, there were 16,252 people, 4,743 households, and 3,642 families residing in the county. The [[population density]] was 6/km² (14/mi²). There were 5,660 housing units at an average density of 2/km² (5/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.86% [[Race (United States Census)\|White]], 4.87% [[Race (United States Census)\|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)\|African American]], 0.58% [[Race (United States Census)\|Native American]], 0.41% [[Race (United States Census)\|Asian]], 0.02% [[Race (United States Census)\|Pacific Islander]], 19.76% from [[Race (United States Census)\|other races]], and 2.50% from two or more races. 73.76% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)\|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)\|Latino]] of any race. There were 4,743 households out of which 40.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% were [[Marriage\|married couples]] living together, 16.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.20% were non-families. 20.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.44. In the county, the population was spread out with 28.70% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 30.80% from 25 to 44, 18.70% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 121.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 130.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $24,504, and the median income for a family was $26,578. Males had a median income of $23,810 versus $16,498 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the county was $16,069. About 24.50% of families and 29.00% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 36.20% of those under age 18 and 30.40% of those age 65 or over. ==Cities and towns== [[Bigfoot, Texas\|Bigfoot]] [[Dilley, Texas\|Dilley]] [[Hilltop, Texas\|Hilltop]] [[Moore, Texas\|Moore]] [[North Pearsall, Texas\|North Pearsall]] [[Pearsall, Texas\|Pearsall]] [[West Pearsall, Texas\|West Pearsall]] ==See also== [[Winter Garden Region]] ==External links== {{Handbook of Texas\|id=FF/hcf10\|name=Frio County}} * [http://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=%22United+States+-+Texas+-+Frio+County%22&t=dc.coverage Historic Frio County materials], hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History.] {{Texas}} {{coord\|28.86\|-99.11\|display=title\|type:adm2_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990}} [[Category:Texas counties]] [[Category:Frio County, Texas\| ]] [[Category:United States counties with Hispanic majority populations]] [[de:Frio County]] [[bpy:ফ্রিও কাউন্টি, টেক্সাস]] [[lmo:Frio County, Texas]] [[no:Frio County]] [[nds:Frio County]] [[pt:Condado de Frio]] [[zh:弗里奧縣 (德克薩斯州)]]

Jackson Ferry Shot Tower and Frio County, Texas: Difference between pages