The Osseo Water Tower in
Osseo, Minnesota
Osseo is a small city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 2,688.
It is said that "Osseo" derives from the Ojibwe name ''waaseyaa'' meaning "there is light" (more commonly translated as "So ...
, is an historic water tower listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in June 5, 2017. It was listed for its historical significance to community planning and development in Osseo, because it promoted better fire fighting, provided fresh water to homes and businesses, and supported the growth of the community. It is also architecturally significant because hemispherical-bottom water towers, built from about the 1890s to about 1940, are rapidly being replaced by larger-capacity towers.
Osseo residents and the Village Council had been discussing the establishment of a water works since about 1900. At that time, fire protection was only available with a
bucket brigade
A bucket brigade or human chain is a method for transporting items where items are passed from one (relatively stationary) person to the next.
The method was important in firefighting before the advent of hand-pumped fire engines, whereby fir ...
, or with hand-pumped wells that each required six men to pump enough water to produce a strong stream. In 1914, the Osseo Commercial Club actively organized to bring water and electrical service to the village. They promoted the significant savings on fire insurance, the decreased risk of property loss, and the fact that water and electric service would bring more businesses to Osseo. The village council heard a petition on December 28, 1914 with a proposal to issue $20,000 in bonds to build a water works plant and an electric plant. The village held an election on January 12, 1915, and both the power plant and water plant propositions passed with a sound majority. On May 4, 1915, the village council received bids for construction, which began around July 21. The village prepared a celebration, the Osseo Light and Water Carnival, which was billed as “The Greatest Municipal Prosperity and Improvement Celebration in the
History of Northern Hennepin County.”
The water system was pronounced completed on November 24, 1915. The Commercial Club then spurred the formal creation of the Osseo Fire Department, which further helped reduce fire insurance rates.
During that period, the village was also a hub of potato harvesting from nearby farms. In 1914, an average of 150 train car loads of potatoes were being shipped out each day on the
Great Northern Railway. Another development was the establishment of the
Jefferson Highway
The Jefferson Highway was an automobile highway stretching through the central United States from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Jefferson Highway was replaced with the new numbered US Highway system in the late 1920s. ...
, which came in 1916 and was routed along Central Avenue.
The City of Osseo considered demolishing the water tower in 2014 after learning that repairing it and removing
lead paint
Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to acceler ...
would cost about $350,000.
The Legacy Amendment funds provided $6,500 for the initial study.
There are only seven remaining municipal water towers with a hemispherical bottom within 50 miles of Osseo:
Elk River (whose
tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
is listed on the National Register),
Hampton
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
*Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
*Hampton, Victoria
Canada
*Hampton, New Brunswick
*Hamp ...
,
Milaca
Milaca ( ) is a city and the county seat of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. The population was 2,946 at the time of the 2010 census. It is situated on the Rum River.
History
A post office has been in operation at Milaca since 1883. The name Mila ...
,
Robbinsdale
Robbinsdale is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota,. The population was 13,953 at the time of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total ...
,
Minnetonka Beach, and
Waconia. There had been at least 17 towers of this design within a 50-mile radius, and probably more. Most of those towers are in small communities in outlying areas. The nomination also notes that historic water towers are disappearing because of the expense of maintenance.
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
1915 establishments in Minnesota
Buildings and structures in Hennepin County, Minnesota
National Register of Historic Places in Hennepin County, Minnesota
Towers completed in 1915
Water towers on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota