{"nrhp_refnum":"93000325","name":"Havana Water Tower","other_names":["Old Havana Water Tower"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Jct. of Pearl and Main Sts., NE corner","address_restricted":false,"city":"Havana","county":"Mason County","state":"IL","lat":40.30061199100004,"lon":-90.05880505999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-04-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story octagonal brick water tower topped by a 50,000 gallon steel storage tank, about 86 feet tall, at the corner of Pearl and Main Streets in Havana, Mason County, Illinois. It was built between August and November of 1889.","why_significant":"The tower is significant under Criterion A for community planning and development as part of Havana's public water system, installed in 1889 to provide fire protection and water for residents. It has been the city's visible water storage landmark for over a hundred years and remains part of the system today.","narrative":"Rising about 86 feet on the Main Street hill in Havana, Illinois, this octagonal water tower combines a five-story soft-brick base with a 50,000 gallon steel tank. It was built between August and November of 1889, after residents voted to install a public water system because the town lacked adequate water for fire protection and general use. The base is about fifty feet high, with walls 27 inches thick at the bottom and 18 inches at the top, and a band of ornamental brickwork beneath the tank. F. W. Raider served as engineer and Guido Jaeger as contractor. The tower was part of a system that also included ten supply wells and a pumping station. Later changes include a metal roof added around the 1950s and removal of the tank catwalk in the early 1970s. It is recognized for its role in the city's planning and development, and it still serves as water storage during system maintenance.","period_of_significance":"1889-1943","architect_builder":"Raider, F. W., Engineer; Jaeger, Guido, Contractor","architectural_style":"OTHER: Water Tower","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The tower is still in use, mainly as water storage during system maintenance. The form's current-function entry also lists vacant, but the narrative says it remains in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.248374-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/8936/28893606/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/93000325.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000325/30cfc2476f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000325/30cfc2476f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Maliwhite10","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Havana_Water_Tower,_Illinois.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Maliwhite10</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:Havana_Water_Tower,_Illinois.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893606","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_Water_Tower","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5683109"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mason-county/havana-water-tower-93000325/"}