Raleigh Water Works Water Tower
Posted by: 
showbizkid
N 35° 46.770 W 078° 38.465
17S E 713213 N 3962059
The Raleigh Water Works Water Tower, now known as the AIA Tower, was built in 1887.
Waymark Code: WM9E8
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 03/25/2006
Views: 98
The Tower was built in 1887 by the Raleigh Water Works, a private business which had the franchise to supply Raleigh with water. The water source was Walnut Creek, south of Raleigh, from which the water was fed by wooden trough to a mud-bottom pond and then conveyed through metal pipe to the 30-foot high iron tank atop the Tower.
In 1901, the Wake Water Works took over the property and operated the water supply until the property was purchased by the City of Raleigh in 1913. Soon after, the water supply became inadequate and the Tower was abandoned.
In the early 1930's, William Henley Deitrick, a Raleigh architect, learned that the Raleigh City Council was considering turning the property over to the WPA for demolition. Deitrick, realizing the value and potential of the property, purchased the Tower from the city.
Deitrick remodeled the front and back buildings to be suitable for architectural quarters. Several generations of Raleigh architects were trained here under Deitrick's tutelage.
On May 27, 1963, Deitrick, a former president of the North Carolina Chapter of The American Institute of Architects, deeded the property to the Chapter in return for private office space until his death in 1974.
The old water tower is now called the AIA Tower and it serves as the headquarters for the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
To record you own visit to this waymark, post your own photo of the waymark along with some brief comments. Logs without photos will be archived. Thanks.The Old Raleigh Water Works Water Tower, circa 1920:
The AIA Tower in 2006:
