Lead Smelting Furnace, ca. 1912

Lead smelting furnace. Lead was a natural resource that became very important to the lives of many Iowans. Lead ore was smelted to produce lead shot. The small round pellets were used as ammunition for rifles. This photo was taken near Dubuque, Iowa, circa 1912. The furnace was probably used between the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s.

Used with permission of the State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.