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/ _ y, . ~ 1.. '/\:; V~'~T MINNESOTA ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY INVENTORY FORM PROPERTY NAME: Elk River Water Tower ADDRESS: 4`~ and Jackson Streets NW CITY/TOWNSHIP: Elk River COUNTY: Sherburne PROPERTY OWNER: LOCATION INFORMATION TOWNSHIP: 33N RANGE: 26W SECTION 34 QTR NW QTR NE QTR SW USGS QUAD ELK RIVER UTM ZONE: 15 DATUM: NAD27 FASTING 455602 NORTHING 5016896 PROPERTY TYPE: Water Tower NRHP PROPERTY TYPE: Structure HISTORIC USE: Water Tower CURRENT USE: Water Tower DESCRIPTION The Elk River Water Tower is an all-metal elevated tank designed to store water and to maintain water pressure in the city water system. The Elk River Water Tower has ariveted- stee] cylindrical tank with a conical cap with finial and a hemispherical bottom. The tank is elevated on a four-post lattice-girder trestle tower with diagonal tie rods, and a riser pipe connects the tank with the underground water system. The tank is encircled by a balcony with steel railing, and an access ladder rises on the northwest leg of the tower. A hip- roofed pump house with stucco veneered walls is located immediately west of the water tower. STYLE, IF APPLICABLE ARCHITECT/ENGINEER HISTORY The village of Elk River established a water system in 1920 through construction of an elevated water tank and underground distribution. Prior to the establishment of a city water system, Elk River residents relied on private wells for wafer. In other communities with water systems, water works during the nineteenth century operated either with a pumping system, whereby water was pumped from the source into the mains, or with a reservoir located above the distribution system to maintain pressure. Initially, elevated water tanks were built primarily for private use, such as those built by railroads or industrial operations. Public water tanks became more common during the 188Us, as it became understood that stored-water systems eliminated the need for continuous pumping and provided a supply for fue suppression. To elevate the water to sufficient height to maintain pressure within the system, many communities used water tanks raised up on metal standpipes or stone or brick towers. The expense of stone or brick towers and the failure of standpipes led to SHPO NUMBER: SH-ERC-016 DATE SURVEYED: April 2008 SURVEY PROJECT: TH 10 Elk River, Sherburne County SURVEYOR/FIRM: Andrew J. Schmid[, Summit Envirosolutions widespread use of the all-metal elevated tank after the turn of the twentieth century. The first known use of a metal tank an tower was in Princeton, New Jersey in 1883. An elevated water tank designed by Edward Flad in 1893 for Laredo, Texas employed a spherical bottom tank and a trestle tower. Vaziations on this design became the most common form for elevated water tanks in the United States during the early twentieth century, particulazly riveted-steel tanks on lattice- steel towers. This type of tank and tower was commonly buil in Minnesota during the early twentieth century. For example a group of five such towers were built in towns on the Cuyun Iron Range during the 1910s and are currently listed in the NRHP. The Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company built [he Elk River elevated water tank and tower during April of 1920. The ditching and pipe laying also were begun at that time and completed by August of 1920. Elk River's new water system was officially dedicated on August 28 with a daylong celebration led by the Elk River Fire Department that was sai~ to be one of the biggest celebrations ever held in town. The immediate motivation for establishing the water system is uncleaz, but fire protection would have been a benefit of the system. Downtown Elk River had suffered four major fires, 1887, 1898, 1903 and 1914; the last one destroyed four commercial buildings on Main Street, including the post offic building. The Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company was a fabricator of elevated steel water tanks in Minnesota and throughout the Midwest during the early twentieth century. The company was founded in 1902, and by 1916, it employee 2,200 workers, mainly in its Minneapolis manufacturing plan at Minnehaha Avenue and Lake Street (rased). Through the 1920s, the company was a manufacturer of steel water tanks and towers, tractors, threshers, small engines, hoists and derricks, structural steel, grain bins, and bridges. The Twin City Steel Water Tanks and Towers division of the company manufactured tanks, towers, and stand pipes for small towns and cities, railroads, large buildings, and the federal government. In 1929, Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company merged with Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company and Moline Plow Company to form Minneapolis- Moline Power Implement Company. APPLICABLE STATE HISTORIC CONTEXT: Railroads and Agricultural Development 1870-1940 Elk River Water Tower, 4`h and Jackson Streets I~rVJ Page I of 3