Beloit Water Tower
Encyclopedia
The Beloit Water Tower is a historic 1889 octagonal limestone
water tower
in Beloit, Wisconsin
.
The tower, completed in 1889 to serve the city's water needs, particularly fire protection, was built by a consortium of local businessmen. Eventually serving 25,000 customers, it was abandoned after the completion of an adjacent steel water tower with twice the capacity around 1935, and allowed to stand due to excessive demolition costs.
The structure, located on a bluff overlooking the Rock River
just north of the Beloit College
campus, originally contained a 100,000 gallon water tank made of cypress
, and pressurized seven miles of pipes.
A Beloit Daily News
article in 1935 said it was "once regarded as the finest piece of masonry in the west". It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1983. The Shingle Style pump house at the base of the bluff now acts as the Beloit Visitor Center.
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
in Beloit, Wisconsin
Beloit, Wisconsin
Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 census, Beloit had a population of 36,966. The greater Beloit area is home to more than 91,000 residents.-Claim to fame:...
.
The tower, completed in 1889 to serve the city's water needs, particularly fire protection, was built by a consortium of local businessmen. Eventually serving 25,000 customers, it was abandoned after the completion of an adjacent steel water tower with twice the capacity around 1935, and allowed to stand due to excessive demolition costs.
The structure, located on a bluff overlooking the Rock River
Rock River (Illinois)
The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois. It rises in southeast Wisconsin, in the Theresa Marsh near Theresa, Wisconsin in northeast Dodge County, Wisconsin approximately south of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin...
just north of the Beloit College
Beloit College
Beloit College is a liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and has an enrollment of roughly 1,300 undergraduate students. Beloit is the oldest continuously operated college in Wisconsin, and has the oldest building of any college...
campus, originally contained a 100,000 gallon water tank made of cypress
Cypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
, and pressurized seven miles of pipes.
A Beloit Daily News
Beloit Daily News
The Beloit Daily News is a daily newspaper that has served Beloit, Wisconsin and the stateline area since 1848.-History:The Daily News grew out of a series of weekly and daily newspapers founded in the 1840s and 1850s. The Beloit Journal was first published in June 1848 as a weekly...
article in 1935 said it was "once regarded as the finest piece of masonry in the west". It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1983. The Shingle Style pump house at the base of the bluff now acts as the Beloit Visitor Center.
External links
- Stone Octagon Water Tower (with photograph)
- Old stone water tower, 'built too well', allowed to stand - Wisconsin Historical SocietyWisconsin Historical SocietyThe Wisconsin Historical Society is simultaneously a private membership and a state-funded organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of North America, with an emphasis on the state of Wisconsin and the trans-Allegheny West...
- Beloit Visitor Center: A City Symbol Stands Proud Again