This is one of our city landmarks , can you tell what it is?

[Detector Man]

NO cheating please,
I probably never would have guessed it until someone told me....i can tell you it used to be a parking meter repair shop for the city and currently its used as a visitor center and it displays local artists works.... tomorrow if no one guesses its original purpose ill post the right answer with a couple more pictures

the top picture is the front and the bottom picture is a side shot. If i post the year it was built i might give its purpose.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

n/t

 

[Detector Man]

it is to store something needed every day in any city....
In fact i would think ALL cities have something like it ...

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

n/t

 

[Detector Man]

we had a beautiful old style courthouse that was demolished in the name of progress and earthquake safety...that happened back in 1963 i believe ....people still talk about it

But the posted picture is a picture of our city's original water storage tower built in 1894 and according to the literature this water tower is based on influence of water towers of its day in Germany.

Basic measurements are:
Total Overall Height to peak of roof: 109'
Diameter of tank 34'
Height of tank 34'
Water tank capacity 250 000 gallons of water
Pipe diameter including cover 1' 9"

Those are the most interesting measurements ...there are a bunch of others
Im including a couple inside pictures.....originally i naively assumed that there was water from top to bottom of tower...obviously that was not the case.

 

[Ron J]

n/t

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

It is an interesting looking old building. Your pictures were very good, clear and sharp. Thanks for posting this contest, very enjoyable. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Detector Man]

the building is downtown and when downtown was downtown we went by there very often and i really never gave it much thought...i thought the whole thing was full of water and the windows and doors were added later...wroooong....inside i couldn't see where the water was actually stored but it uses only a tiny portion of the tower...the very top i think....the pipes inside are to put the water in and take it out....i should have asked to see where the valves were...

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

You also have to remember that the city probably was not very large when they were using this water tower. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Detector Man]

most of the towns around here (in the early days) stored their water in above ground tanks....i think they did it that way so that they would have pressure (gravity) to distribute water to the population.....nowadays its the other way around....they pump the water out of the ground but the water table keeps dropping....so they have to go deeper to have access to water for the city....i believe the water table is now at 100Ft.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

Our water supply is a aquifer and we go down over 600 feet. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Detector Man]

our drinking water in the city is pumped up....in the country farmers use irrigation water as well as pumped up water. Our population is over 500k and the city fathers are seriously concerned about a shortage of water. All sorts of regulations such as water meters (recently) and watering schedule. I will say that 100ft is nothing compared to 600ft. Nonetheless they are reacting like we are running out of water.
Never mind that new homes plant the wrong type of grass and we really do not store what little rain water we get. I think it is all BS since we are not required to landscape for the arid region that we have.

 

[nge]

I thought it kinda looked like an old "repurposed" lighthouse.......nge

 

[Detector Man]

except we are 2-3 hrs from the coast

 

[nge]

People have bought them and moved them inland around in Michigan and turned them into homes.......nge

 

[Detector Man]

wowowow. I had no idea
i beleive there was one in N.C. that was moved due to erosion...i forget how far they moved...