At the bottom of this post, you’ll find links to my previous photo essays. Even though I posted other ones first, water towers are what actually gave me the idea to do a series of photo essays.

I find water towers interesting and found myself photographing a few early on in my travels. That’s when the idea hit me. Why not take as many photos of them as I can, then put them all together in one post? There are so many commonalities from one town to another, from one side of the country to the other. I loved the idea of taking photos of the same item in different locales.

Water towers, I learned are in built in the air because they need to be high enough to pressurize the system to get the water back out again. To read more about water towers, check out the Wikipedia page on the subject.

Reflections

One of the other things I like to do is reflect on the particular topic (i.e., water towers, outside RV decor) to see if there is something deeper I can discover.

Alas, I did discover something about water towers as I looked at my collection trying to decide which ones to share. And it wasn’t positive or provocative. It was kind of a drag.

Here’s the thing: even thought they seem different and unique as I see them one at the time, it turns out they all pretty much look alike. A white lollipop against a blue sky. For this post, I tried to select the biggest variety of them that I could but you’ll definitely see more than one white lollipop.

The other thing I think quite a bit about as I pass various water towers on a travel day is the great range of care and love they receive. Some have paint so faded, you can do longer even make out what it once said while others look like they were painted yesterday. I suppose it mostly comes down to a town’s financial situation.

What’s On the Water Towers?

By far, the most common thing I see on water towers is the name of the town. If I had to guess, I’d say at least 75%, maybe more.

The second most common is a mascot that I always assume is the high school mascot. You can probably figure out that also means the towns where this is true are smallish since there is just the one high school.

Some remain blank. Some have company logos on them. Now, I’m not sure if that means the water tower is sponsored by that company or the company owns it.

Twice, I saw a really pretty detailed and intricate water towers that I would’ve like to get a better look at but I wasn’t able to photograph either.

Capturing the Water Towers

Water towers, like several other photo essays I’m working on, can be hard to photograph. It feels like I see most of them from my van, from the highway on travel days. At that speed while towing a trailer, I cannot easily capture an image. I cannot even tell you how many of them I’ve missed. Certainly, way more than I got.

The photos shared were captured from a wide swath of locations, from standing below them and looking up to snapping wildly through the windshield as I drive by at 65 mph.

The Water Towers

Blue painted water tower with Willow Springs written on it in black. A Phillips 66 gas sign next to it.
Willow Springs, Missouri. It is one of a very few that I’ve seen not painted white or made of metal. I imagine the color was chosen because it’s the color of water.
Lots of trees with a small silver water tower coming up behind.
The water tower that served Fort Bayard. You might remember my visit to Historic Fort Bayard in Santa Clara, New Mexico.
A vertical tube-shaped water tower with words Balloon Fiesta Park on the outside.
The water tower near me in the south lot at Balloon Fiesta because that’s where fireworks were shot from. During the fireworks show, a fire truck parked near the water tower.
Water tower with the word Dubuque written in blue, coming up behind some trees and against a stormy sky.
Dubuque, Iowa, just as the angry clouds of a storm are rolling in.
Water tower with the bulb at top painted green and white, town name "Schuyler" written on the side. Taken against a cloudless blue sky.
Schuyler, Nebraska. I never learned the significance of green. Perhaps it represents the sea of corn fields in the area or perhaps the high school’s colors.
Behind chain-linked fence is 3 or four small water tanks and towers.
I spotted these guys on my 3-hour drive to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Not sure if they were for the super tiny town or if they were a person’s personal stash but I was drawn to them for this project.
Water tower with Hollister written on it against a cloudy sky.
Hollister, Missouri. Very near Branson.
A dark green water tower coming up behind a building. You can only see half of the writing and it's blurry. Trees frame the photo.
I couldn’t get the right angle so you could clearly read this one but it’s the water tower at the Cabela’s World Headquarters in Sidney, Nebraska. I took it from the edge of the RV campground.
A water tower against a blue sky. There is a big H on it and below it says Welcome to Hohenwald.
The water tower in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Home of Oliver Travel Trailers. I’ve seen this water tower many times.
Rusted metal water tower taken below it looking up against the blue sky.
This was a favorite. Loved how old and decrepit it looked. I found this one beauty in Columbia, Tennessee. I think the first line of writing says Tennessee but cannot tell anymore than that. Can you?
A water tower surrounded by trees. You can read the top where is says Columbus.
Columbus, Iowa. It looks an awful lot like the one from Dubuque in terms of shape and color.

Water Tank…But That’s Okay

Two ground-level water tanks on a green hill against a blue sky. One water tank reads Lordsburg.
I found these on a hill when I visited the ghost town of Shakespeare, New Mexico. Lordsburg is the nearest town to Shakespeare.
White water tower against a blue sky with the town's name, North Bend. Several houses with trees are behind it.
What’s most interesting about this one was that I found it in the midst of a residential neighborhood. Makes you wonder which came first. North Bend is in Nebraska. Quintessential white lollipop against a blue sky.
A water tower coming up behind three small houses. It's metal and read Otis.
I didn’t realize it until I started looking at these water towers as a group but I’m partial to the metal ones. To me, they have so much character–like they have a story to tell. This one is in Otis, Kansas. It’s one of the few where I got quite lucky with how good it came out because it was taken from the van while driving.
Rusted metal water tower coming up behind an abandon building with graffiti painted on it.
I know I used a different version of this one as the feature image but I really like it. I found this near railroad tracks in Troutdale, Oregon. This may not be the last time you see this photo since two other photo essays I’m working on are abandon buildings and graffiti.

Hope you enjoy the latest installment of photos. Do you have any thoughts, feelings or memories of your hometown water tower?

Links to Posts Referenced Above:

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