Benton Stone Water Tower

The Benton Stone Water Tower is located in Benton, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.[1][2]

Benton Stone Water Tower
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	49 Water St. Benton, Wisconsin
Coordinates	42°34′15″N 90°22′58″W
Built	1900
NRHP reference No.	98001598
Added to NRHP	January 7, 1999

The tower in 2013

Benton's history goes back to early lead-mining days. In 1827 Andrew Murphy built a mill race there. The village grew as mining expanded, shrank when many of the miners left for California in 1849, then gradually grew back.[3]

After a fire destroyed Benton's store and two houses in February 1899, the people decided unanimously to investigate "a waterworks" system. When a committee recommended a $4000 system financed with bonds to be paid back by taxes, it was put to a referendum and approved 84 to 24. The aim was "to supply water for domestic and sanitary purposes and for extinguishing fires."[3]

A lot was bought on the hill and a 50-foot well was dug with a large reservoir. M. Tschirgi of Dubuque built the stone tower, coursed limestone 67 feet tall with a door with a segmental arch and circular glass-filled windows. On top of the tower sat a wooden tank 18 feet around and 18 feet high. And atop the tank stood a windmill, which pumped water from the reservoir below up into the tank. (The NRHP nomination contains a photo of the original arrangement.) Hydrants were connected to the tower. The system was complete and working by the end of 1899.[3]

In February 1900 the newspaper reported that R.A. Blades would add a "bathing room" to his "tonsorial parlor." (Blades was one of Benton's barbers, and contract supervisor during construction of the tower.)[3] Apparently this meant a room where you could pay to bathe. A fire company was organized around the same time.[3]

In 1923 the town replaced the wooden tank with a 30,000 gallon steel tank with a conical steel roof, built by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Works.[3] The windmill was removed in the 1930s.[4] The tower was refurbished in 2010.

Today the old tower stands as a prominent landmark in Benton, an example of fine stonework and early public works engineering. The NRHP nomination also notes that "determination to build a waterworks marked an important step in the evolution of community spirit and willingness to raise taxes for a common purpose."[3]