The Ypsilanti Water Tower was designed by William R. Coats and constructed as part of an elaborate city waterworks project that began in 1889. Located on the highest point in Ypsilanti, the tower was

Almost every community has a water tower as part of the municipal water system. Some have the name of the town painted across them or maybe a smiley face. Ypsilanti has one of the most unique water towers in the United States. The historical marker next to it reads:

Completed in 1890. It is 147 feet high and has an 85-foot base constructed of Joliet limestone. The substructure walls taper from a thickness of forty inches at the bottom to 24 inches at the top. The reservoir holds a 250,000-gallon steel tank. To protect themselves from injury, the builders made three stone crosses; one is visible over the west door. The Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority has operated and maintained the structure since 1974. In 1975 this tower was designated by the American Water Works Association as an American Water Landmark. It was restored in 1976.

Day laborers constructed this water tower which was completed in 1890 at a cost of $21,435.63. The tower and the city waterworks supplied 471 customers the first year. An ordinance passed on April 14, 1898, established a yearly rate schedule. Rates were based on the number of faucets in use, the type of business that customers operated and the livestock they owned. A residence with one tap was charged $5.00; a private bathtub cost an additional $2.00. Saloon keepers paid $7.00 for one faucet, $3.00 for each additional faucet and $1.00 for each billiard table. Each cow a person owned cost $1.00. People who failed to pay their bill were subject to a $50.00 and ninety days in the county jail. Until 1956 this structure was the only water tower in the Ypsilanti water system.

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I was driving along the St. Clair River near Algonac when I could see what looked like a lighthouse in the distance. I was surprised to see it since I know where all of the lighthouses are located in Michigan in my efforts to visit every one of them. When I got up to the tower I could make out the words “The Colony” on the face of it and I realized it was a water tower.  Thankfully a Michigan Historical Marker stands next to it to tell the story, it reads:

Built in 1925 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Works, this steel-framed water tower was the main water supplier for the “The Colony on the Ste. Claire”; – a secluded residential community established in Clay Township in the early 1920s. The Colony Tower marked the entrance to the Will St. John estate, the home of the real estate developer who founded The Colony subdivision. The 136-foot tower once housed a 60,000-gallon water tank. Constructed with curtain walls and steel plates to resemble a lighthouse, it demonstrates the early twentieth-century penchant for disguising the utilitarian functions of highly visible structures. A light shone from atop the tower, aiding boat and aircraft navigation from 1925 until 1937, when the light was extinguished due to its high operating costs.

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Among the last of the wooden water towers in Michigan, the Grant Water Towers was built beside the depot in 1891 by the Grand Rapids, Newaygo and Lakeshore Railroad. It cost $1,910 and could hold 42,648 gallons of water. Although train service ceased in 1966, the Water Tower was used well into the 1980s as a water reserve for the fire departmant. In 2008, after being moved 128 feet east of its original location, the cypress and pine tower was restored.

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