Grand Water Tower - "Old White" - St Louis Missouri - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

From   Missouri - A Guide to the "Show Me" State - St. Louis section:

NORTH ST. LOUIS WATER TOWER, North Grand Blvd, at 20th Street, often called "the Old Water Tower," is a white, 154-foot Corinthian column of brick with an octagonal base of Chicago stone 41 feet in diameter.  The column, erected about 1871, was used until 1912 to create pressure to move water pumped from the Mississippi at Bissell's point, one mile to the north, to the Compton Hill Reservoir, about four miles to the south.  The five-foot water pipe in the center of the column is surrounded by a spiral staircase leading to a platform at the top of the structure.  In 1929 the column was equipped as an air beacon.

The Grand Water Tower also known as "Old White" as opposed to "New Red" which is located nearby,  is a stand pipe water tower designed not for water storage but to regulate water pressure from the erratic steam driven pumps used when the tower was constructed. The tower was designed by architect George I. Barnett and was constructed at a cost of $45,000 in 1871. The water tower is constructed of brick shaft on a stone base and octagonal stone platform, topped with an iron capital cast in a leaf design. This water tower went out of service in 1912 when more stable electric pumps were placed into service. The tower was threatened with demolition however was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.