Compton Hill Water Tower - St. Louis, MO - Frieze Art on Waymarking.com

County of at: St. Louis Independent City
Location of art: S. Grand Blvd., Compton Hill Reservoir Water Tower, St. Louis

The Compton Hill water tower built in 1898 and stands 179 feet tall. It is of a French-Romanesque design is by one Harvey Ellis who was a co-designer of St Louis City Hall. The tower is stand pipe tower used to regulate to water pressure from the erratic steam-driven pumps used when the tower was constructed. The water was stored in the adjacent reservoir. The tower remained in service until 1929. A room at the top of the tower was open to the public until the 1970s, which offered a great view of the city.

The observation deck at the top of the tower is now open again. One Saturday a month, and the evening of the full moon, it is open to the public for $5.00

"In the City of St. Louis, a glorious monument to an era when function followed beauty rises above some of the city's most charming and historic neighborhoods. Compton Hill Water Tower, located in Compton Hill Reservoir Park along Grand Avenue, is preserved as a mid-19th century engineering masterpiece. Built in the late-19th century on the highest point in the city it was designed as part of the city's public water supply system. One of only seven surviving such towers in the United States (two others are also in St. Louis), it was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1972. It sits in Reservoir Park, flanked by a large, classic statue that celebrates the city's newspaper heritage, a lily pond and walking paths. The park is always open to the public, while the Tower itself is frequently open for touring. It is owned by the St. Louis Water Division and maintained through the joint efforts of the Division and the Water Tower & Park Preservation Society." ~ The Water Tower and Park Preservation Society