Water towers posses a humble beauty that feels equal parts commercial (color photos) and rustic (black and white). Dotting the flat plains skyline, there seems to be a faint air of pride about them. Here are all the water towers in Norman.
The only city-sanctioned water tower not emblazoned with "NORMAN." Appears to be the oldest.
Constitution St., adjacent to the OU golf course.
Does not appear on the city of Norman's water tower list. Seems to be a private OU-servicing tower.
The middle of campus at the University of Oklahoma.
Not entirely sure this is a water tower, but it looks the part and sticks out above the buildings of the OU campus like one.
Tucked between a church and a fire station in an unassuming residential area.
36th Ave, NW.
The largest of all, my research tells me it holds 2 million gallons of water. The only tower featuring cement construction. I can't shake how much this behemoth resembles a spacecraft.
W. Robinson St., at Fire Station No. 4.
The most elusive of the towers in that it can only be accessed by stepping onto Fire Station No. 4 property. Another tower tucked away among suburbia.
N. Flood Ave.
The most mysterious. It does not appear on the city of Norman's water tower list, nor it is emblazoned with any affiliation. Looks to be the second largest, yet is located merely a block away from the next tower on this list.
Corner of N. Flood and W. Robinson.
The most heavily trafficked location of any water tower. Consequently, this is probably the tower with the highest number of views.
I never thought about how they actually tower over everything. They're so impressive because they're the tallest thing around. Neat!
ReplyDeletethat's why you might want to DRINK ON TOP OF WATER TOWERS
ReplyDeleteMen In Black was on to something except the alien ships are really in Norman water towers.
ReplyDeleteMystery solverd: "The most mysterious. It does not appear on the city of Norman's water tower list, nor it is emblazoned with any affiliation. Looks to be the second largest, yet is located merely a block away from the next tower on this list."
ReplyDeleteThis is actually the University of Oklahoma's North Campus (Westheimer Airport) water tower. It was constructed in 1942-43, and holds 500,000 (half a million) gallons. It stores water collected from the University's water wells on their North Campus and distributes the same water to the main and south campuses via a water distribution line under Berry Road.
I hope this information does not take away from the mystique of your photos. They really are stunning. Excellent work!
This tower is actually older than 1942. It’s got the 1920’s style I-beam legs like the 1st tower which was built by Pittsburg & Des Moines steel co in 1927. I grew up around 7 of these towers on Long Island and worked on one of them for a water dept.
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