The Big Well, in Greensburg, Kansas

Greensburg, Kansas

Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 777. Greensburg is also home to the world's largest hand-dug well....

, USA, is a water well

Water well

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...

 that was designed to provide water for the Santa Fe

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...

 and Rock Island

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...

 railroads. It was built in 1887 at a cost of $45,000, and served as the municipal water supply until 1932.
It is billed as the world's largest hand-dug well, at 109 feet (33.2 m) deep and 32 feet (9.8 m) in diameter.

The Well of Joseph in the Cairo Citadel

Cairo Citadel

The Saladin Citadel of Cairo is a medieval Islamic fortification in Cairo, Egypt. The location, on Mokattam hill near the center of Cairo, was once famous for its fresh breeze and grand views of the city...

 at 280 feet (85.3 m) deep and the Pozzo di S. Patrizio

Pozzo di S. Patrizio

The Pozzo di San Patrizio is a historical structure in Orvieto, Umbria, central Italy. It was built by Antonio da Sangallo of Orvieto, between 1527 and 1537, at the behest of Pope Clement VII....

 (St. Patrick's Well) built in 1527 in Orvieto, Italy

Orvieto

Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...

, at 61 metres (200.1 ft) deep by 13 metres (42.7 ft) wide are both actually larger.

It was designated a National Museum in 1972; in 1973 it was awarded an American Water Landmark

American Water Landmark

An American Water Landmark is a landmark within the United States or Canada that is a historic location and is associated in some way with water...

 by the American Water Works Association

American Water Works Association

American Water Works Association was established as an international non-profit professional organization dedicated to the improvement of water quality and supply. Founded in 1881, it claims a membership of around 56,000 members worldwide as of 2010.AWWA has become the largest organization of...

. Under the name of "Greensburg Well," it has been 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...

 since 1972.

Visitors entered the well for a small fee, descending an illuminated stairway to the bottom of the well.

Visitor center

The well had a visitor's center detailing the history of the well's construction. On May 4, 2007, a tornado hit Greensburg, destroying the center.

The visitor's center also displayed a Brenham

Brenham (meteorite)

Brenham is a pallasite meteorite found near Haviland, a small town between Wichita and Dodge City in Kansas. Pallasites are a type of stony–iron meteorite that when cut and polished show beautiful yellowish olivine crystals.-History:...

 half-ton

Ton

The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...

 (1,000 lb, 450 kg) pallasite

Pallasite

A pallasite is a type of stony–iron meteorite.-Structure and composition:It consists of cm-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix. Coarser metal areas develop Widmanstätten patterns upon etching...

 meteorite

Meteorite

A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...

 recovered from the area. The meteorite was billed as the world's largest single-piece pallasite, but that title is held by other samples. It was reported that the Big Well visitor center was destroyed, and the meteorite was missing on May 7, after an EF5

Enhanced Fujita Scale

The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States based on the damage they cause.Implemented in place of the Fujita scale introduced in 1971 by Ted Fujita, it began operational use on February 1, 2007. The scale has the same basic design as the original Fujita scale:...

 tornado

Tornado

A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

 destroyed the town. The meteorite, which was insured for $1 million, was later located underneath a collapsed wall and is being displayed temporarily at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas

Hays, Kansas

Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. It is also a college town, home to Fort Hays State University...

.