{"nrhp_refnum":"79002739","name":"Old Elyria Water Tower","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"S side of W. 15th St., 100 ft. W. of Black River Bridge","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elyria","county":"Lorain County","state":"OH","lat":41.35249026500003,"lon":-82.11492851699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A tall cylindrical sandstone water tower built in 1879 on the south side of West 15th Street, just west of the Black River bridge in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio. It is designed in the Victorian Gothic style.","why_significant":"It was the first water system of the city of Elyria and is described as a milestone in the community's development. It also has interesting Gothic detailing, including pointed arches and buttresses.","narrative":"Built in 1879 beside the Black River in Elyria, Ohio, this round sandstone tower once held the water tank that supplied the city. Its rock-faced walls are four feet thick, and the door and window openings have Gothic arches. Four exterior buttresses reinforce the structure, and a balcony carried on large brackets circles the top. Inside is one open space with a stone spiral stair cantilevered from the walls. A brick pumping station originally stood at the base, with a house for the water department employee nearby. Elyria relied on the tower for many years, until the city decided in 1902 to pump water inland from Lake Erie. The tower and pumping station were then sold to the neighboring steel company, which still uses the tower to store water for cooling steel. As the city's first water system, it marks a milestone in local development, and its Victorian Gothic detailing adds architectural interest.","period_of_significance":"1879","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a water tower; the form lists interior and exterior condition as good.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.203566-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79002739.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002739/1f1ef300d6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002739/1f1ef300d6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TnrSmith","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Elyria_Water_Tower.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TnrSmith</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Elyria_Water_Tower.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985788","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138507851"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lorain-county/old-elyria-water-tower-79002739/"}