News: Neillsville Standpipe in Historic Register (2 Oct 2013)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: No Surnames listed

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co, WI) 10/02/2013

Neillsville Standpipe Listed in Historic Register (2 October 2013)

The Wisconsin Historical Society announced Friday the listing of the Neillsville Standpipe on Fourth Street in Neillsville in the National Register of Historic Places. National Register designation provides access to certain benefits, including qualification for grants and for rehabilitation income tax credits, while it does not restrict private property owners in the use of their property.

In 1890, the first Neillsville Standpipe was built on the highest point in the city. For 36 years it provided water and firefighting needs.

On a warm day March 20, 1926, a cap of ice that had formed in the top of the tower broke free and fell into the water below. This burst the sides of the standpipe, causing it to collapse and set water and ice down the street to the houses below. Fortunately, no one was injured and property damage was minimal.

Later that year, the city constructed the current concrete tower with interior piers to house a new water tank. The Pittsburg-Des Moines Steel Company designed the hemispherical-bottomed, 250,000-gallon steel tank that was assembled inside the encasing tower.

The new standpipe met the city’s fire suppression needs. When a fire broke out in a commercial building in January 1939, Neillsville had water at the ready to immediately douse the burning structure and save the downtown. This unique standpipe is still in service today.

The register is the official national list of historic properties in America deemed worthy of preservation and is maintained by the national Park Service in the U. S. Department of the interior.

The Wisconsin Historical Society administers the program within Wisconsin. It includes sites, buildings, structures, objects and districts that are significant in national, state or local history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture.

To learn more about the state and national register programs in Wisconsin, visit www.wisconsinhistory.org

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