Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower
About this property
The Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was built in 1895 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1972. It is located on the grounds of the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital. The Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital was founded in 1859 and soon became a landmark in American medicine. Buildings on the grounds were Thomas Kirkbride and Samuel Sloan, nationally renowned hospital architects. The buildings they designed were reminiscent of medieval designs. In 1895, architect William B. Stratton from Detroit was commissioned to design a water tower on site. Stratton was instructed to come up with a structure that would complement the medieval feeling of the other buildings on the hospital grounds. Construction was completed in 1895. The tower has been struck by lightning multiple times, and the roof was eventually replaced with copper sheeting. The structure was earmarked by the State of Michigan for demolition in 1974. However, a local committee called the Committee to Save the Tower launched a campaign to raise public funds to restore the tower. The tower is 175 feet tall. The base stone blocks are five feet high; above this point the tower is made of bricks. It is approximately 50 feet wide at its widest point. The outer shell tapers from six feet thick at the base to four feet at the top. The tower has three water storage tanks inside. The main tank is 40 feet high and 40 feet in diameter and can hold more than 200,000 gallons of hard water. Two smaller tanks flank the main tank and hold soft water. Above the tanks is a "look-out" structure with a steeply pitched roof covered with copper sheeting.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower
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Questions about this property
When was Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower listed on the National Register?
Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1972.
What type of historic resource is Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower?
Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower?
The period of significance for Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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