High Service Water Tower and Reservoir

The High Service Water Tower and Reservoir, colloquially known as the Tower Hill Tower, is a public water supply facility off Massachusetts Route 110 in Lawrence, Massachusetts.[2] The reservoir was constructed in 1874-75 to provide the city's public water supply, with a gatehouse designed by Charles T. Emerson, a Lawrence architect.[3] The tower was built in 1896 as a high pressure standpipe or water tower. The tower stands 157 feet (48 m) high, and is built out of red brick with granite trim. It is Romanesque in its style, and was designed by George G. Adams, a noted local architect who had been taught by Emerson. The standpipe inside the tower is of steel construction and is 102 feet (31 m) in height. The area above the standpipe includes a balcony capped by a chateauesque roof, with round-arch windows providing views of the area. The main tower is octagonal in shape, with a narrow round staircase tower projection from one side.[4]

High Service Water Tower and Reservoir
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Lawrence, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°42′26″N 71°11′1″W
Built	1896
Architect	Charles T. Emerson; George G. Adams; Albert F. Noyes
Architectural style	Italianate, Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	78000450 [1]
Added to NRHP	November 20, 1978

The neighborhood surrounding the tower is known as Tower Hill, for obvious reasons. Although the hill and its accompanying neighborhood are associated with Lawrence, and the tower itself is located in, a small sliver of Tower Hill actually extends into the neighboring city of Methuen. Thus, it is sometimes necessary to clarify whether one is speaking of Tower Hill, Methuen or Tower Hill, Lawrence.

The tower and reservoir were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lawrence, Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. Arrington, Benjamin F. (1922). Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume 2. Lewis historical publishing company. pp. 503–504. lawrence high service water tower 1874.
3. Final Report of the Water Commissioners of the City of Lawrence. Lawrence, MA: Sentinel, 1876.
4. "MACRIS inventory record for High Service Water Tower". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2015-04-23.

High Service Water Tower (1896), also called Tower Hill Water Tower, a notable eyecatcher or folly, named an American Water Landmark in 1979 by the American Water Works Association.