The Compton Hill Water Tower has watched over our neighborhoods for more than a century — one of only a handful of 19th-century standpipe towers left standing anywhere in the world. Time and weather are catching up to her. We're making sure she's here for the next hundred years, too.
National Register of Historic Places · 1972
The tower isn't just beautiful. It's a rare piece of American industrial architecture and the heart of our neighborhood's identity.
One of only seven standpipe water towers still standing in the United States. A working record of the engineering that built modern American cities. Right here, in St. Louis.
Designed in 1898 by Harvey Ellis, with terra cotta details that have inspired generations of architects, artists, and neighborhood wanderers.
For the neighborhood families in Compton Hill, Shaw, Compton Heights and more, the tower is the skyline. Losing her would mean losing a piece of home. We're not going to let that happen.
We are a volunteer-run preservation organization of St. Louis residents, historians, architects, and local business owners. Our mission is simple: raise the funds, assemble the right team of conservators, and make sure the tower is stabilized, restored, and celebrated — forever.
Since forming, we've partnered with preservation specialists, city officials, and neighborhood schools to keep this work moving. Every donation, every signed petition, every volunteer hour gets us closer.
Meet the team →
A 2025 structural assessment identified significant weathering to the limestone base, spalling on the terra cotta, and water infiltration in the upper shaft. Without intervention, these issues compound quickly. That's the bad news.
The good news: preservation experts are working towards a phased restoration plan. By starting our campaign for community funding, we can be in a position to start stabilization as soon as the plans are completed.
Help fund the restoration"This tower has been the view on my grandparents' walk, my father's walk, my walk — and now my children are going to grow up with it too."— Linnea Bruce, 3rd-generation Compton Heights resident
Whether you give $10 or $100 — every contribution keeps the scaffolding going up, not coming down.
