Property Record
806 S 1ST ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Watertown City Water Works |
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| Other Name: | City Water Department |
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| Reference Number: | 74655 |
| Location (Address): | 806 S 1ST ST |
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| County: | Jefferson |
| City: | Watertown |
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| Year Built: | 1895 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1986 |
| Historic Use: | public utility/power plant/sewage/water |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. This building was the original structure built for the city's waterworks system, installed in 1895. In 1895 the city of Watertown contracted with a private company to build a city-wide waterworks system. The W.H. Wheeler Company of Beloit handled the construction of the project under the supervision of civil engineer George G. Morgan of Chicago. The plant was built on the site of the old brick flour mill which had recently burned. The building, still intact today, was built as a one-and-one-half story room and boiler room. Also built on the site was a receiving and storage reservoir with a capacity of 350,000 gallons of water. The original pipeline system for the waterworks was 14 and one-half miles long and the pumping station connected with the original water tower near the Northwestern campus. This tower was demolished and a modern tower now stands in its place. The city purchased the waterworks system from the private company in 1896 and in 1897 the city formed a Board of Water Commissioners to oversee the system. The waterworks system of Watertown has been expanded and improved throughout the twentieth century, but the original building still is in use today. While Watertown developed some public services at ane arly date, a private gas company in the 1850s, for example, the railroad bond debt issue, where Watertown was liable for over one-half of a million dollars to speculators for failed railroad construction, disrupted city government and probably slowed city services dramatically in the late ninteenth century. When the debt issue was settled in 1889 and paid right after the turn of the century, Watertown began to catch up with the city services that city residents needed and demanded. The progressive era in government also acted as a catalyst, as the idea of government intervention into public services was becoming acceptable, particularly to the middle class. During the 1890s and early twentieth century, Watertown began paving its streets, building a sewage system, and establishing parks and other public improvements. The waterworks system was probably, next to the 1885 city hall project, the most significant of all the public works projects undertaken by the city during this era. Because it represented the era of the development of city services in Watertown, the waterworks building is a significant local landmark in the community. Built in 1895 of cream brick, the Watertown City water Works dominated by fall hip roofs is characterized further by plain rectangular windows with flat stone lintels. A curved metal door hood supported by metal scroll brackets is located on the north section. The main center section of the building projects in front of the lower north and south wings. The Watertown City Water Works is a fairly well preserved Water Works building and one of the few historic city buildings remaining in the city. However, there is not sufficient architectural character to meet the criteria of architectural significance. The City Well building (43-12) built with similar materials and probably at the same time, remains on the site adjacent to the City Waterworks building. The other historic Waterworks structure is Municpal Well NO.2 at 407 Western Ave. (44-17). |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) C. Hugo Jacobi, "Reminiscences of Early Days in Watertown, "Watertown Daily Times, 20 March 1924. (B) Cornerstone. (C) Watertown, Wisconsin Centennial 1854-1954, Watertown: Jansky Printing Co., 1954, pp. 78-79. (D) "Watertown's Latest Improvement," Watertown Gazette, July 13, 1897, n.p. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |