Holding Up The H2O

The water tower was completed in 1939 by Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. It stands three stories high.


Water towers use gravity to create pressure that moves water through supply pipes. Each foot of height off the ground provides added pressure per square inch to meet water demand.


A 5,000-gallon tank is inside the tower. Although no longer in use, it once held enough water to supply drinking, flushing and other water needs of visitors.


The tank was used until 1965 when the park switched to the Little Falls water system.


Rustic Style and the WPA

Ever wonder why so many park buildings of the era looked like mountain cabins? WPA workers across the country were operating under a master plan called Rustic Style.


This style, according to an official 1935 manual "uses native materials in proper scale, and through the avoidance of rigid, straight lines... gives the feeling of having been executed by pioneer craftsman with limited hand tools. It thus achieves sympathy with natural surroundings, and the past."


[Photo captions read]

Tower under construction in 1938.

Minnesota Historical Society


Shelter building as it looked in 1936.

Minnesota Historical Society

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