Ransom Water Tower

	Ransom Water Tower
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Plumb St. between Cartier and Columbus, Ransom, Illinois
Coordinates	41°9′24″N 88°38′57″W / 41.15667°N 88.64917°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1896
Architectural style	Barrel-type water tower
NRHP reference No.	90001723
Added to NRHP	November 2, 1990

The Ransom Water Tower is a former water tower in the LaSalle County, Illinois, village of Ransom. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

History

After a fire in the early 1890s the village of Ransom decided to construct a public waterworks with a central water tower. The first meetings were held in 1893 and 1894. After some controversy over the size of the tank and tower a 45,000–50,000 gallon tank was constructed atop a brick water tower in 1896. The tower served the village from its construction until July 19, 1990.^[2]

Design

The Ransom Water Tower is located atop a hill, what was the highest point in the then-center of town. Upon its construction, a 40 foot brick tower was topped with a 28-foot-tall (8.5 m) wooden water tank. The brick tower is a round, "barrel", tower. At its base it has a diameter of 29 feet 4 inches which tapers as the tower rises to a diameter of about 24 feet.^[2]

Historic significance

The tower is locally significant to the settlement of Ransom. It helped the village flourish after a devastating fire and attracted settlers and business growth to Ransom.^[2] The Ransom Water Tower was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 2, 1990.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cahill, Marianne. "Ransom Water Tower", (PDF), August 1, 1990, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, accessed May 11, 2008.

External links

Media related to Ransom Water Tower at Wikimedia Commons

1990 photograph^{[permanent dead link]}, via Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
Property Information Report: Ransom Water Tower, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[nrhp-2] Cahill, Marianne. "Ransom Water Tower", (PDF), August 1, 1990, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, accessed May 11, 2008.

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