Sunset in St Louis

Photos from the top of the water tower in St Louis. The Compton Hill tower stands 179 feet high and is the youngest of the three. Dating from 1898, its French-Romanesque design is by one Harvey Ellis, whose credits also include City Hall, in association with George Mann. The Compton tower and its brethren originally served as pressure regulators for the city's water supply, much of which was stored in the reservoir immediately adjacent to the tower. Pressure spikes in the steam-powered pumping system could potentially damage pipes. The solution was a 100-foot-plus standpipe, which the tower was built to conceal. One of only seven surviving such towers in the United States (two others are also in St. Louis), it was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1972. It sits in Reservoir Park, flanked by a large, classic statue that celebrates the city's newspaper heritage, a lily pond and walking paths. The park is always open to the public, while the Tower itself is frequently open for touring. It is owned by the St. Louis Water Division and maintained through the joint efforts of the Division and the Water Tower & Park Preservation Society.

Image dimensions: 5700 x 3800 pixels