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Water Towers Who would have thought they would be
interesting?
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Literally EVERY town has a water tower... somewhere. Most
folks never even notice them, they're as common place as telephone
poles. But when I got stationed in Ft Lewis, Washington in the
mid-80's, I noticed that the water towers there were the same design
as the ones I saw in Maine, and for some reason, that was
fascinating to me...
Over the years, I've snapped pictures of towers that struck my
attention for one reason or another... the name of the town, the
paint job, the style... who knows... but I've narrowed them down to
5 general styles... the "Tin Can", the old
"Slat and Strap", the "Lunar Lander",
the "Fuel Tank", and the modern
"Golf Tee"... These "styles" are my own convention... I supposed if I wanted to, I could
figure out the "real" name, but its funner to make up my own.
I STILL think its weird that so many different communities, from so varied an
environment and need, can have EXACTLY the same type of water tower...
especially the "Tin Can" variety.
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"Tin Can" style |
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Biddeford, Maine I have others of this one, but this one is the only one I
could find... its off of Route 9, in Biddeford, up a considerable hill. |
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Tacoma, Washington Heidelberg Brewery's water tower still portrays their logo,
even though they sadly closed their doors in 1979. Their facility occupies
an entire city block of down town real estate. |
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South Tacoma, Washington On the way home "the back way", I ran across these
two towers in South Tacoma, along SR-7 |
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Skyview, Washington Were it not for its gas stations just off of I-5, I would
never have stopped in this town, near Renton. |
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Mount Vernon, Washington This one doubles as a Cell Phone Tower as well... the
city makes money renting the space. |
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Marysville, Washington This is one of a couple in Marysville... this one is the older
ones, I think... it looked it, anyway. |
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Marysville, Washington This one is right in the center of town... |
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Olympia, Washington This water tower overlooks Stevens Field, which is the
first ball park in Olympia. |
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Quincy, Washington Nice paint job! |
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Yelm, Washington This one is near the center of the older portion of the town. |
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Portland, Oregon This one is heading into the Gorge from Portland... it looks
OLD |
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Alcatraz Island, California This old gem is often overlooked... |
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Post Falls, Idaho This one was on the property of a HUGE lumber mill... |
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Saco, Montana This water tower is distinct ONLY because of the name... |
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Near Des Moines, Iowa Well, if you HAVE to have one, it may as well make some
money... this one was near a coffee plant, and it doubled as a bill board.
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New Vienna, Iowa This tower is OLD! Note the stone tower... |
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Winterset, Iowa This is the home of "The bridges of Madison County". Its
also where John Wayne was born. |
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Mechanicsville, Iowa This tower grows out of a building in the middle of town. |
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Osborne, Kansas This one just sort of sticks out there... |
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Cawker City, Kansas This one is a bit plain, but its still interesting... a
lot of water towers are this shape... it must have been a pretty popular
pattern, or it must have been a pretty big company... |
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"Slat and Strap" |
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Roy, Washington This one is OLD... I don't know if its used anymore, but it
looked like it was... |
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Port Gamble, Washington These are old, too... These are right on the edge of
town, just as you enter the historic village. |
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Boone Valley Historic Railroad, Boone, IA This one is still used to fill the
kettles of several steam engines operated by the railroad. |
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"Lunar Lander" style |
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Cosmopolis, WA This tower sits in the center of Weyerheauser's mill in
Cosmopolis. |
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George, Washington I STILL think its a great name for a city... a town with a
sense of humor... |
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Portland, Maine I don't know WHAT those things are on it... |
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Seattle, Washington This is on top of a non-descript hill in an outskirt
neighborhood. |
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McCord AFB, Washington Sitting off the highway on the edge of the base, this
tower sports the Air Force logo, but little else. |
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McCord AFB, Washington This is a much better shot of the tower that's closer
to the highway... |
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Shoreline, Washington This one is HUGE! |
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Fort Riley, Kansas The government is never known for "flash"... so Ft Riley's
water towers are functional, but they're still pretty sharp looking. |
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Ft Riley, Kansas This tower was near the top of Custer Hill, where the troops
are housed... we used it to sight up our tank's sights. |
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Park View, Iowa This one was take with digital zoom on, before I new what that
did to pictures... |
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Seabrook, NH This one is near a nuclear power plant. |
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"Fuel Tank" style |
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Olympia, WA Fairly nondescript, this tank sits on top of a hill, its view
fairly well blocked by well-placed trees near the roadway. Its in the
middle of a city-owned plot, used mostly to store stuff |
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Olympia, WA This tank is at the end of a small cul-de-sac. |
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Summit, WA Nestled in the trees above the alpine village sits this water
tower. Before I noticed it, I must have overlooked it a hundred times! |
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Tumwater, WA This tower sits on a ridge overlooking Tumwater and Olympia, and
is clearly visible from the Interstate... it actually has trees painted on it,
which help it, on most days, somewhat blend in with the surroundings... even
close up, the trees just make the tank look more appealing. |
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Tumwater, WA The "painted tank" is actually part of a complex of tanks... the
other tanks are much lower, and painted green, to help them blend in with the
trees that surround the site. |
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McKenna, Washington The small town of Olympia has a matching small water
tower... |
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Roy, Washington This is the new water tower in Roy... its next to the High
School. |
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Mountlake Terrace, Washington This tower sits off the side of the road... sorry about
the power lines... there's no 'good' view. |
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Sammamish, Washington This tower is painted to disguise itself somewhat... but
they made a mistake, and painted it blue instead of gray! |
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Federal Way, Washington I like the way this one is painted... |
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Ritzville, Washington Not to slam a town or anything, but the only thing
"Ritzy" in Ritzville seems to be the name... :-) Just joking... this
little town on I-90 is at the perfect spot for getting gas or a bite to eat when
driving across the state. |
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Troutdale, Oregon This one was pretty nice looking... |
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Moses Lake, Washington This one is TALL.
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Abilene, Kansas This one announces the town pretty well... its plain, but its
not as bad as it could have been...
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Gray, Maine This one is sort of close to the Animal Farm |
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"Golf Tee" style |
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Sedgwick, Kansas This is TRULY a "Golf Ball!" |
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Mulvane, Kansas This is the highest point for miles! Its right in the
middle of town. |
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Meridan, Idaho This is about the only thing in this town! |
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York, Iowa When I saw this one, I thought it actually WAS a hot air baloon...
Pretty Creative, I think...
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Adair, Iowa This is one of the coolest ones I've EVER seen! How can you
not smile driving by this one??? |
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More to follow!
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