The Art Deco stone water tower of Washburn Park

Hovering atop a hill in the Tangletown neighborhood of south Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Washburn Park Water Tower is an unofficial beacon for planes landing at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Built in 1931, this 110-foot-high water tower is an example of Art Deco architecture. Its site originally held a tower built in 1893 by Cadwallader and William Washburn to supply water to the Memorial Orphan Asylum. The city of Minneapolis purchased the tower in 1915 and connected it to the city water supply.

In 1931, the city built the current tower as one of the last projects of architect Harry Wild Jones. Jones worked alongside William S. Hewett, an engineer from the Interlachen Bridge project, to incorporate modern hydro-engineering methods. The project's history includes a story of Jones clearing underbrush at his home nearby when a giant eagle with nearly an 8-foot wingspan attacked him. Jones had the eagle maimed and captured, bringing it to town where it attracted much attention. He used the eagle's extraordinary dimensions to cast eight concrete lookalikes that now sit atop the tower.

The tower is located close to Jones' residence and stands out due to its castle-like architecture. In 1968, a pumping station malfunction caused the tower to overflow and flood nearby basements. On October 6, 1983, the water tower was placed on the National Register of Historic Places for the city of Minneapolis, record number #24362. The tower no longer supplies water to the surrounding neighborhoods. Instead, 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.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons