Washburn Park Water Tower
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Washburn Park Water Tower
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The Washburn Park Water Tower from the southeast
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| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
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| Coordinates | 44°54′38.76″N 93°17′2.45″W / 44.9107667°N 93.2840139°WCoordinates: 44°54′38.76″N 93°17′2.45″W / 44.9107667°N 93.2840139°W |
| Built | 1931 |
| Architect | Harry W. Jones |
| NRHP Reference # | 83003663 |
| Added to NRHP | October 6, 1983 |
The Washburn Park Water Tower poses as a landmark of early 20th-Century architectural achievement within the Tangletown neighborhood in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been doing so for nearly 75 years. Perched on top of one of the highest points in south Minneapolis, the tower is given the privilege to boast its unique location and role as an unofficial "beacon" for incoming planes landing at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, yet remains hidden from much of the residents and visitors that pass by the base of the hill each day. This is mainly because large homes and tall oak trees scatter the hillside where the tower resides, and even more so, because of the clustered mess of streets and dead ends that compromise the towers' occupancy. Hence the name, 'Tangletown'.
The Washburn Park Water Tower is one of three stone water towers built in Minneapolis during the early 20th-Century. The others are Kenwood Park Water Tower, just west of downtown, and Prospect Park Water Tower, in southeast Minneapolis.
(This information is taken directly from the plaque at the site. It was erected in 2000 by the Tangletown Neighborhood Association.)
The history of the water tower, and of an earlier tower on this site, is closely linked to the Washburn brothers, Caldwallader and William, who initiated the development of the Washburn Park known also as Tangletown.
The original tower was built 1893 to supply water for the Memorial Orphan Asylum by the Washburn brothers, Cadawallder and William. Water was pumped from nearby Minnehaha Creek to the tower and the piped to the orphanage at the site where Ramsey Middle school stands today at 50th and Nicollet.The tower was then purchased by the city of Minneapolis and connected to the city water supply in 1915.
The tower you see, built in 1932 by the City of Minneapolis, was designed by these professional, who lived in the neighborhood.
Architect: Harry Wild Jones
Sculptor: John K. Daniels
Construction Engineer: William S Hewett
This 110-foot-high tower can hold 1,350,000 gallons nearly eight times the capacity of the old tower. 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/
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