The Washburn Park Water Tower is a landmark in the Tangletown neighborhood of south

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, built in 1931. It is located on top of one of the highest points of south Minneapolis. The tower is considered an unofficial "beacon" for incoming planes landing at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport; however, it is not as visible to passers-by at the base of the hill due to the large homes and tall oak trees scattered on the hillside. The Washburn Park Water Tower is one of three stone water towers built in Minneapolis during the early 20th century. The other two are Kenwood Park Water Tower, just west of downtown, and

Prospect Park Water Tower The Prospect Park Water Tower, sometimes referred to as the Witch's Hat Water Tower, is a historic water tower in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1913 on Tower Hill Park, a hilltop park e ...

, in northeast Minneapolis.

History

The original tower was built 1893 by Cadwallader and William Washburn to supply water for the Memorial Orphan Asylum. Water was pumped from the

Minnehaha Creek Minnehaha Creek ( dak, Mniȟáȟa Wakpádaŋ) is a 22-mile-long (35 km) tributary of the Mississippi River that flows east from Gray's Bay Dam on Lake Minnetonka through the suburban cities of Minnetonka, Hopkins, Saint Louis Park, and Edin ...

to the tower and then piped to the orphanage. The tower was purchased by the city of Minneapolis and connected to the city water supply in 1915.The current 110-foot-high water tower was built in 1931 by the City of Minneapolis in an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. The tower was one of the last projects of Harry Wild Jones, an architect known for several other Minneapolis landmarks including

Butler Square Butler Square (originally the Butler Brothers Company building) is a former warehouse and office building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The building is located within the Minneapolis warehouse district and was listed on the National ...

and

Lakewood Cemetery Lakewood Cemetery is a large private, non-sectarian cemetery located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is located at 3600 Hennepin Avenue at the southern end of the Uptown area. It is noted for its chapel which is on the National R ...

Chapel. It was intended to add beauty to the developing neighborhood and to create jobs during the Great Depression. Along with William S. Hewett (an engineer from the Interlachen Bridge project), he incorporated modern hydro-engineering methods into the tower's design. He also gave it its very own unique character with the statue designs that rest on the tower. The story goes that as Jones was clearing underbrush at his home nearby, which was also in its construction phase, a giant

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

(with nearly an wingspan) had attacked him. He had the eagle maimed, captured, and brought to town where it began attracting much attention. In part, he used the eagle's extraordinary dimensions (and the artistic skills of John Karl Daniels) to cast the eight concrete lookalikes which now sit atop the tower, watching over their former domain. Eight "Guardians of Health" were also placed around the tower to prevent any bad-tasting or bad-smelling water pollutants, which were thought to be the cause of typhoid fever outbreaks, from contaminating the water supply. Jones's house is located near the tower. Partially obscured by new houses and trees, it stands out due to its distinct castle-like style. In 1968, a malfunction at a nearby pumping station caused the tower to overflow, flooding the basements of many of the surrounding houses. On October 6, 1983, the water tower was placed on 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 ...

for the city of Minneapolis. The water tower's record number is #24362.\ The tower no longer supplies water to the surrounding neighborhoods. Instead it is drained in the fall and filled in the spring to provide a local head for water pressure throughout south Minneapolis during the summer.

References

External links

* * * {{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Infrastructure completed in 1931 Towers completed in 1931 Water towers in Minnesota Water towers on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota