About
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Address: 55 Malcolm Avenue Southeast
Neighborhood: Prospect Park
Construction Date: 1914
Engineer: F.W. Cappelen
Architect: Undetermined
Architectural Style: 20 th Century Revivals
Historic Use: Public – Water Storage
Current Use: Public - Storage
Date of Local Designation: 1984
Date of National Register Designation: 1997
Area(s) of Significance: Architecture; Community Planning
Period of Significance: 1906-1914
Historic Profile: Affectionately known as the "Witch’s Hat," the Prospect Park Water Tower acts as a unique visual landmark identifying the surrounding community. Situated at the highest elevation in Minneapolis, it was originally built in 1914 to improve water pressure for the hilly Prospect Park neighborhood but no longer stores water. City engineer F.W. Cappelen designed the water tower to be a metal tank interior standing 320 feet tall with a holding a capacity of 150,000 gallons of water. The tower is crowned with a conical cap of steeply pitched green tile which acts as a roof. Directly beneath the roof, an octagonal Romanesque-arched belvedere surrounds the tower top, giving it a medieval feel. The water tower served the neighborhood until 1952 before advancements in technology rendered it obsolete. While the observation deck is only open one day a year, the tower still stands as a symbol and a source of pride for the Prospect Park neighborhood.
Photo Credits:
1915, Charles J. Hibbard, courtesy of The Minnesota Historical Society
2006, Minneapolis CPED
Works Cited:
"National Register of Historic Places – Nomination Form," December 1983.
Updated: February 2007, March 2018