Today, August 11, 2017, is the 125th anniversary of the Bremen standpipe water tower.

Caruthersville standpipe
Caruthersville, MO, twin standpipe, built in 1901 (photo by AZcachemeister of Geocaching.com)

Bremen’s historic standpipe was built in 1892. “Standpipe” is an old term for “water tower” that is now more commonly used for fire hose connections attached to buildings. There were once 400 standpipe-type water towers in the US, but very few remain today, the most famous probably being the 1869 Chicago Water Tower, which was built of limestone in a castle-like style. George Morgan, who designed the standpipe, built others on the same design, including one still standing in Caruthersville, Missouri.

Bremen’s standpipe is a 101-foot tall brick and steel tower located on Jackson Street just south of Plymouth Street. It was dedicated in 1975 as an American Historic Water Landmark.

A devastating fire November 6, 1891 destroyed an entire city block in town, galvanizing the community to fund the construction of a water works at Shady Side Park and the standpipe to deliver the water to residents for both firefighting and home use.

From 1892 to 1955, the standpipe served the town of Bremen as a source of water pressure with a capacity of 30,000 gallons. Now the town is served by multiple modern towers that hold ten times as much.

Click one of the images below to see it larger or browse our Flickr album of standpipe images.

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