Osseo Water Tower

The Osseo Water Tower in Osseo, Minnesota, is an historic water tower listed in the National Register of Historic Places on June 5, 2017. It was listed for its historical significance to community planning and development in Osseo, because it promoted better fire fighting, provided fresh water to homes and businesses, and supported the growth of the community. It is also architecturally significant because hemispherical-bottom water towers, built from about the 1890s to about 1940, are rapidly being replaced by larger-capacity towers. Osseo residents and the Village Council had been discussing the establishment of a water works since about 1900. At that time, fire protection was only available with a bucket brigade, or with hand-pumped wells that each required six men to pump enough water to produce a strong stream. In 1914, the Osseo Commercial Club actively organized to bring water and electrical service to the village. They promoted the significant savings on fire insurance, the decreased risk of property loss, and the fact that water and electric service would bring more businesses to Osseo. The village council heard a petition on December 28, 1914, with a proposal to issue $20,000 in bonds to build a water works plant and an electric plant. The village held an election on January 12, 1915, and both the power plant and water plant propositions passed with a sound majo

Building data from Wikidata (CC0); heights normalised. Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).