history images Mound City on the Mississippi Home Page
image menu Buildings, Sites, and Objects People, Places, and Things Events, Incidents, and Occurrences Bibliography

structures


Name:  Bissell (New Red) Water Tower
Address:  Bissell and Blair Avenues
Year:  1886
Architectural Firm/Architect:   William S. Eames
Property Type Codes:  Tower, water
Dimensions:   206 feet high
Designation: City Landmark, National Register of Historic Places,
History:
The Bissell ("New Red") Tower, the Grand ("Old White") Tower, and the Compton Hills Tower, are three of seven remaining water towers in the country. Once there were 500.

Built in 1885-1886, the Bissell ("New Red") Tower was designed by William S. Eames in the form of a Moorish minaret. There are nine doorways leading into a space containing an iron standpipe and a spiral staircase. At the top is a look-out platform. It was renovated in 1913. There was an attempt in 1958 to raze it, but it was halted by a group of nostalgic citizens led by Donald Gunn, president of the board of aldermen. It fell into dangerous disrepair and, in 1962, there was another effort to tear it down. An investigation showed that restorating the tower would not be significantly more expensive than razing it. Restored, it is an important landmark for North St. Louis.




People
Eames, William S.
Gunn, Donald


Structures
Water Tower, Red
Grand Avenue (Old White) Water Tower
Water Tower, Compton Hill
BissellĀ“s Point Plant

Red Water Tower

 

 

peoplestructureseventssourceshome
about historic preservationnew entries4 kids onlymap it!

This site was made possible by: the City of St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency and
the City of St. Louis Community Information Network.

This site was funded in part by Federal funds administered by the Missouri State Historical Preservation Office, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, The National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.


Version 1.0