This is another Icon along Historic Rt. 66. The apparent lean from the ground is much more obvious from the ground View, but if you look closer at the satellite voew, you can see the legs sticking out on one side. Worth viewing on Bing & Google satellite to see the differences. The Leaning Tower is featured on Virtual Globetrotting: (
visit link) notice the shadow appears to come from the right side of tower. The tilt is just 10% but to the naked eye it looks a lot more. The Center of gravity has to remain inside the support legs, on the left of the default & Ariel photo, the center pipe must act as the third leg for stability, or it would fall down.
On the Bing aerial view, you can just see the legs on the right, & the shadow seems to have shifted right.
An interesting point, the pair of legs you see sticking out on the satellite view to the right are actually off the ground.
This leaning water tower has become a must visit Icon for present day route 66 travellers. The tower was erected alongside Historic Route 66 in 1980 specifically on the tilt in order to encourage inquisitive travellers to stop in Britten's Restaurant & Truck Stop for gas & food. The rest stop buildings are now long gone due to a fire. The Restaurant sign is still present, & just about readable. located near the town of Groom.
The Weird Texas Web site has full info & great pictures of this Iconic Water Tower, also showing the legs off the ground.
"Some thought it was nearly toppled by an earthquake, while others, obviously more familiar with the Panhandle’s geologic track record, chalked it up to a passing tornado.
The more imaginative placed blame on a clumsy aviator. Naturally, these were all just rumors and entirely unsubstantiated. If you had no shame, you might go for the cheap joke and say they didn't hold water.
No, the real force responsible for the tower's tilt was far more powerful, and purely intentional. That's right, the lean was deliberate, a direct result of the most formidable influence known to man: good, old-fashioned American marketing.
It worked like a charm, too. Passing motorists pulled off the highway just to make sure they saw what they thought they saw. Next thing they knew, they were finding themselves in the parking lot of Ralph Britten's truck stop and restaurant, where the as-long-as-we're-here factor would take hold." Text Source: (
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Leaning Water Tower attraction info from the Roadside America Web Site:
"The leaning water tower displaying the words "Britten USA" has nothing at all to do with Britains living in the area. The Britten family is a huge ranching and farming family in the area." Text Source: (
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If you look at the Satellite view on Bing, you will notice the shadow is not in line, proving the Water tower is on the tilt: (
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