Existing American water towers are useful to represent the basic split between the two opposing architectures of the early twentieth century. One group of civic decision-makers (and their lackey-designers) assumed that a water tower ought to look like anything other than what it was. Better it should resemble a Renaissance fortress, a Gothic steeple, a Corinthian column, an Islamic spire, a French chateau
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![](//4.bp.blogspot.com/-2MJLKleqS3s/Uv4DjlTImVI/AAAAAAAA5BE/aerh_0pBgBs/s1600/WaterTower-Massachusetts.jpg) |
Scituate, Massachusetts |
![](//4.bp.blogspot.com/-swX6uxZMS9w/Uv4DfnanPlI/AAAAAAAA5A8/hrsunbYzomc/s1600/WaterTower-Milwaukee1.jpg) |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-2HQ3-A5Usp0/Uv4DbUDlH7I/AAAAAAAA5A0/W-pLIQbRU6I/s1600/WaterTower-Michigan-Detroit-Color.jpg) |
Detroit, Michicgan |
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-acHDFCGgqYw/Uv4DXfx2rII/AAAAAAAA5As/qfNq5cympQc/s1600/WaterTower-SC-Charleston.jpg) |
Charleston, South Carolina |
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUz1AXUStug/Uv4DRpvlZQI/AAAAAAAA5Ak/alJl6yD90qU/s1600/WaterTower-SaintLouis-0.jpg) |
Saint Louis, Missouri |
![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/-0thQFRUUEFI/Uv4DL7bIGVI/AAAAAAAA5Ac/3Qs2Q4YYgO4/s1600/WaterTower-SaintLouis1-color.jpg) |
Saint Louis, Missouri |
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PRn10YcGTQ/Uv4DHc3BcjI/AAAAAAAA5AU/BECKevUGpOI/s1600/WaterTower-SaintLouis-3.jpg) |
Saint Louis, Missouri |
The utilitarian, up-to-date, industrial-minded school thought the opposite, and their water towers could not easily be mistaken for anything other than what they were
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![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/--GKOSbZ35fE/Uv4J68HQXCI/AAAAAAAA5Bk/t0Fc5uYCnRU/s1600/WaterTower-Calif-SanJose.jpg) |
San Jose, California |
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/--r0JxPKwPEU/Uv4J_QaQTWI/AAAAAAAA5Bs/ohsyuKw3kdw/s1600/WaterTower-Delaware2.jpg) |
Townsend, Delaware |
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-2etzfWLXHBk/Uv4KEXoCFbI/AAAAAAAA5B0/5V1zzFs2u2g/s1600/WaterTower-Illinois.jpg) |
Rantoul, Illinois |
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-eqG9-5nzc6o/Uv4KLbe6t3I/AAAAAAAA5B8/Yqtk9oWNsJk/s1600/WaterTower-Minnesota.jpg) |
Elysian, Minnesota |
![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/-txD4UwZ3NrU/Uv4KQIgSLRI/AAAAAAAA5CE/VkmyTTNKq5c/s1600/WaterTower-Nevada.jpg) |
Mercury, Nevada |
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-pRhU_cptkLY/Uv4KUwjdTmI/AAAAAAAA5CM/FEmuCC9ghls/s1600/WaterTower-NewJersey1.jpg) |
Pemberton, New Jersey |
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-CFZ0ftCJU9o/Uv4KaiBfNDI/AAAAAAAA5CU/ihBqmLPsiz4/s1600/WaterTower-Philadelphia1.jpg) |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Photographs from picture archives at the
Library of Congress.