De Valls Bluff Waterworks

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De Valls Bluff Waterworks
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LocationJct. of Hazel and Rumbaugh Streets, De Valls Bluff, Arkansas
Coordinates 34°46′58″N91°27′47″W / 34.78278°N 91.46306°W / 34.78278; -91.46306 Coordinates: 34°46′58″N91°27′47″W / 34.78278°N 91.46306°W / 34.78278; -91.46306
Arealess than one acre
Built1936
Built by Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company and Public Works Administration
Architectural styleOther, Plain/Traditional
MPS New Deal Recovery Efforts in Arkansas MPS
NRHP reference # 07000969 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 20, 2007

The De Valls Bluff Waterworks is a historic public water supply facility at Rumbaugh and Hazel Streets in De Valls Bluff, Arkansas. It contains a 1930s-era elevated steel water tower, built in 1936 by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the local water supply. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas. The property also contains several non-contributing buildings, including a shed, aeration chamber and water tank. [2]

Water tower Elevated structure supporting a tank

A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system for the distribution of potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. In some places, the term standpipe is used interchangeably to refer to a water tower. Water towers often operate in conjunction with underground or surface service reservoirs, which store treated water close to where it will be used. Other types of water towers may only store raw (non-potable) water for fire protection or industrial purposes, and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply.

Public Works Administration administered a comprehensive public works program to promote and stabilize employment

Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression. It built large-scale public works such as dams, bridges, hospitals, and schools. Its goals were to spend $3.3 billion in the first year, and $6 billion in all, to provide employment, stabilize purchasing power, and help revive the economy. Most of the spending came in two waves in 1933-35, and again in 1938. Originally called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, it was renamed the Public Works Administration in 1935 and shut down in 1944.

National Register of Historic Places Federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.

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See also

Cotter water tower United States national historic site

The Cotter water tower is a historic elevated steel water tower located in Cotter, Arkansas. It was constructed in 1935 by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company, as part of the development of the local water supply system by the Public Works Administration. The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other PWA-era projects in Arkansas, under the heading “An Ambition to Be Preferred: New Deal Recovery Efforts and Architecture in Arkansas, 1933-1943.”

Cotton Plant water tower United States national historic site

The Cotton Plant water tower is a historic elevated steel water tower located in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. It was built in 1935 by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the area's water supply. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas.

Hampton Waterworks United States national historic site

The Hampton Waterworks is a historic site located in Hampton, Arkansas. Completed in 1937, it is the only surviving example of a Public Works Administration-built waterworks in Calhoun County. The site contains a good example of a 1930s-era elevated steel water tower, built by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Related Research Articles

Prairie County, Arkansas County in the United States

Prairie County is located in the Central Arkansas region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The county is named for the Grand Prairie, a subregion of the Arkansas Delta known for rice cultivation and aquaculture which runs through the county. Created as Arkansas's 54th county in 1846, Prairie County is home to four incorporated towns, including DeValls Bluff, the southern district county seat, and two incorporated cities, including Des Arc, the northern district county seat. The county is also the site of numerous unincorporated communities and ghost towns. Occupying 676 square miles (175,000 ha), Prairie County is the median-sized county in Arkansas. As of the 2010 Census, the county's population is 8,715 people in 4,503 households. Based on population, the county is the ninth-smallest county of the 75 in Arkansas.

Fall River Waterworks United States national historic site

Fall River Waterworks is a 22-acre (8.9 ha) historic site located at the eastern end Bedford Street in Fall River, Massachusetts, along the shore of North Watuppa Pond. The property, which is still used as a water works for the city, contains the original pumping station, intake house and 121-foot (37 m) tall standpipe water tower. The system was originally built between 1872 and 1875, and expanded or upgraded many times. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Decatur Waterworks United States national historic site

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Lockesburg Waterworks United States national historic site

Lockesburg Waterworks are a water storage and distribution facility at the junction of Hickory and Azalea Streets in Lockesburg, Arkansas. The facility consists of a water tower and three water storage sheds, of which the tower was built in 1936 with funding assistance from the Public Works Administration, a Depression-era works project. The older shed was built in 1945, and the second was built in 1990. The tower is a metal structure with four legs supported and stabilized by cross bracing, with a metal tank at the top which is sheltered by a conical roof. The oldest shed is a modest square brick structure at the center of the complex, while the 1990 shed is located at the southwest corner of the property.

Waldo water tower (Waldo, Arkansas) United States national historic site

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Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co.

The Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company, and often referred to as Pitt-Des Moines Steel or PDM was an American steel fabrication company. It operated from 1892 until approximately 2002 when its assets were sold to other companies, including Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. The company began as a builder of steel water tanks and bridges. It also later fabricated the "forked" columns for the World Trade Center in the 1960s, and was the steel fabricator and erector for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. A number of its works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mineral Springs Waterworks United States national historic site

The Mineral Springs Waterworks is a historic site located in Mineral Springs, Arkansas. It contains a good example of a 1930s-era elevated steel water tower, built in 1936 by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the town's water supply. The tower was built to store water obtained from a nearby well. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas. A new water well was drilled nearby in 1985; however, the original water tower still stands. The Mineral Springs Waterworks remains in operation.

Monette Water Tower United States national historic site

The Monette Water Tower is a historic structure located at the junction of Arkansas Highway 139 and Texie Avenue in Monette, Arkansas. It was built in 1936 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the area's water supply. The Monette Water Tower is considered a good example of a 1930s-era elevated steel water tank. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas.

Hartford Water Tower United States national historic site

The Monette Water Tower is a historic elevated steel water tower located in Hartford, Arkansas. It was built in 1936 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the local water supply. The project was one of 124 similar projects in the state funded by the PWA. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas.

Tyronza Water Tower United States national historic site

The Tyronza Water Tower is a historic elevated steel water tower located in Tyronza, Arkansas. It was built in 1935 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the local water supply. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas. The Tyronza Water Tower is considered an excellent representation of 1930s-era waterworks construction.

McCrory Waterworks United States national historic site

The McCrory Waterworks is a historic site located in McCrory, Arkansas. It contains an elevated steel water tower, built in 1936 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration, which provided $39,497 in aid for the construction of the waterworks, which included the water tower, tank, and water shed. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas.

St. Elizabeths Catholic Church (De Valls Bluff, Arkansas) United States national historic site

St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church is a historic church at the northeast corner of Sycamore and Mason Streets in DeValls Bluff, Arkansas in the United States. It was built in 1912 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

Marianna Waterworks United States national historic site

The Marianna Waterworks are located at 252 United States Route 79 in Marianna, Arkansas. The facilities at this location include an office building, two clear wells, one wellhouse, an aeration chamber, a water wheel, and a c. 1980 brick outbuilding and steel watertower. The main office building was built in 1936-37 with funding from the Public Works Administration, a Depression-era jobs program, while many of the other facilities were built c. 1930. The office building is rambling T-shaped structure, with sections that are either one or two stories in height. It is built of red brick in the then-popular Spanish Revival style.

Keiser Water Tower United States national historic site

The Keiser Water Tower is a historic waterworks facility at Water and East Main Street in Keiser, Arkansas. It is an open metal structure, several stories high, with a roughly cylindrical tank at the top, and a rising through the center to provide water to the tank. A ladder providing access to the tank is fixed to one of the legs, and there is a circular catwalk with railing around the tank. The structure was built in 1936 with funding from the Public Works Administration, and is one of the few Depression-era structures left in the small community.

Tuckerman Water Tower United States national historic site

The Tuckerman Water Tower is a historic waterworks facility at the south end of Front Street in Tuckerman, Arkansas. It is a tall metal structure, with four latticed legs, braced with rods and sloping inward, to support a water tank that is bowl-shaped at the bottom and topped by a conical roof. A pipe traverses the center of the tower for the movement of water to and from the tank. Built in 1935 with funding support from the Depression-era Public Works Administration (PWA), it is the only remaining PWA tower of its type in the county.

Mountain View Waterworks United States national historic site

The Mountain View Waterworks are a historic public water supply system in Mountain View, Arkansas. The facilities consist of a tower and well house, located at the junction of Gaylor and King Streets. The tower is a metal structure with four legs, reinforced by diagonal latticework members, topped by a water tank with a bowl-shaped bottom and a conical roof. A large pipe connects from the bottom of the tank to the well house, a square fieldstone structure. These facilities were built in 1936-37 with funding from the Public Works Administration, and were still in use at the time of the property's listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Prairie County Courthouse (De Valls Bluff, Arkansas) United States national historic site

The Prairie County Courthouse of De Valls Bluff, Arkansas, is one of two county courthouses in Prairie County, Arkansas. De Valls Bluff is one of two county seats for the county; the other is Des Arc, which also has a courthouse. The courthouse in DeValls Bluff is located at the junction of Magnolia and Prairie Streets, and is a vernacular two story brick building constructed in 1939 with funding assistance from the Works Progress Administration.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  2. Arkansas Historic Preservation Program [ permanent dead link ]