For the Love of Water [Original Photography]
Howdy,
There was a "water tower" photography challenge via ViewBug. It seemed like an interesting enough subject and Rochester, MN is home to a few fascinating specimens.
This first is a photo of a water tower constructed in 1919 at the Plummer House and operated until 1961 (Kotajarvi). According to the article referenced, the city is spending $250,000 to repair and renovate it. The property was donated to the city of Rochester in the mid 1960's and is now a sort of park.
A Wizzard's Abode?
The next water tower, according to the Rochester Post Bulletin's legendary Answer Man, was built only five years after the Plummer one (Answer Man). The city of Rochester has a habit of destroying historic objects, making the continued survival of this particular water tower a bit of a surprise. There were plans to raze it and build a new modern tower, but local residents fought the plan. Now, both old and new towers share this hilltop park.
Castle Nouveau
The last one I want to share is still in danger of being toppled for "progress." Seneca Foods' currently owns the property and has been pushing back on the structure being added to the National Registry of Historic Places. This one was built in 1931 and has become a Rochester icon.
Doesn't Get Much Cornier Than This!
After taking the photos, I realized I'd missed the submission deadline. That's alright, though. It was an enjoyable endeavor and an interesting collection of photography subjects.
Sources:
Answer Man. “Answer Man: St. Marys Water Tower Is Both Old and Historic.” PostBulletin.com, Post-Bulletin Company, LLC, 5 June 2012, www.postbulletin.com/news/local/answer-man-st-marys-water-tower-is-both-old-and/article_f8116255-088d-5336-87fe-8b7d314983a9.html.
Kotajarvi, Lauren. “Plummer House Water Tower to Be Redone.” PostBulletin.com, Post-Bulletin Company, LLC, 29 June 2016, www.postbulletin.com/news/local/plummer-house-water-tower-to-be-redone/article_df2c034d-870b-56bf-a8a4-1dd7c55816ed.html.
The Parker. “Our 150 Foot Tall Ear of Corn.” Our 150 Foot Tall Ear of Corn, The Parker Rochester, 17 Oct. 2017, theparkerrochester.com/our-150-foot-tall-ear-of-corn/.
Thanks!
Thank you for taking a look! If you enjoy my work, please click the upvote button. Comments are also greatly appreciated.
@fotosdenada
Lol I have to say it again. Amazing how you can take the ordinary and turn it into the extraordinary! Always love your story and titles.
Oh and the Dominican people I bet would hire you in a heartbeat to teach them English. Thank god we all played charades. Yesterday we went to get my husbands hair cut in a touristy are. Got a great hair cut, but it is surprising that no one spoke English. The property manager where I’m staying said the people here all know they need to learn English if they want to succeed as tourism is needed here.
And congrats on the curie lite!!!
Haha – Glad to hear his haircut came out nicely! It can be a bit iffy, when you don't know the language. I remember the first time I got a haircut in Spain. I went to a little hair studio in Jerez de la Frontera and didn't have much salon vocab at the time. The lady that cut my hair was great, though, and taught me a lot of the words.
Everyday I learn something. Today I took the chance using google translate to order milk (leche). According to google translate leche in Spanish can be a whole bunch of sexual words as wel lol. I asked a girl waitress for the leche, she smiled and brought steamed milk. Note to self... next time leche fria. Lol
I’m having trouble finding paper to write notes on. Would I be correct to simply ask for bloc ?
"Un bloc de notas" would probably be a little more precise. You could always ask for a "cuaderno" (notebook), too.
Funny that she gave you steamed milk! In Spain, almost nobody drank cold milk. I did, eventually, find fresh milk "leche fesca" in the grocery store. Most over there is that UHT stuff in a box. It's more used for cooking, custards, rice pudding, etc.
You’re awesome. Thanks! Funny you mentioning the UHT milk. We have yet to find fresh milk here at all. I find it odd that there are no cattle here. I see lots of horses grazing (used for tourists to ride) so if the horses can graze, I would think cattle could too. I see most meat is frozen and double wrapped too. I used to work at a meat market. I would double wrap meat that was going to stay frozen for extended times for others to resale. It was always the fresh meat that didn’t sell, frozen, still didn’t sell, then someone bought at a great price to re-sell, then I’d double wrap.
It takes a lot more land for horses than cattle, too. Maybe they should switch to all cattle and attract tourists another way. For that matter, those European riding cattle might be a better fit. Or import those endangered Spanish donkeys that are so awesome!
Weird about the meat there, but it's possible that most of it is imported and the price makes it less accessible. Spain actually has "frozen foods" stores, where everything is frozen. The first one I ever saw, I assumed it was an ice cream shop. That was a bit of a disappointment!
Oh too funny being disappointed lol. Hey, just wanted to thank you with the wording of the notepad. I pointed to your wording, a whole lot of Spanish flew around the grocery store workers (dang there are a lot that work in the grocery stores!) I was told farmicia with a smile and finger pointing/motioning me towards the direction. I am a proud owner of a notepad now! Thanks!
Congratulations! May your bloc de notas serve you well!
Your experience sort of reminds me of when I asked the french ladies in a Paris bakery how to get to the Notre Dame cathedral... lol
Hello @fotosdenada, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
howdy sir fotosdenada! wow that stone water tower is amazing, I've never seen similar water towers as any of these though, they are all so unique!
That water tower is much more elaborate than the ones I've seen around here @fotosdenada It's good to know that money has been spent to renovate this unique building and of course, the snow covered roof adds to the appeal as far as I am concerned. Great photos my friend.
Thanks. There are, surprisingly, quite a few interesting ones around here. A town about 15 minutes away has one built in the late 1800's, which is older than these. I might get out there at some point for a photo, but it is quite literally the only distinguishing feature of the town of Kasson.
Actually, after posting these I was watching the news. The Kasson water tower is at the center of a heated argument about what kind of signage it should get. Some people wanted a big sign to draw people in and others wanted a historic marker sign. It's amazing what people can bicker about!
Well, I think your photos did them justice @fotosdenada It really is amazing what people agrue about......sometimes it all seems like a waste of energy as quite often the bickering doesn't change the inevitable outcome.
Even if you missed the deadline it's still a nice set of photos and a piece of history. I like the rustic feel of the first photo, simple and peaceful.
The one at the Plummer House sort of reminds me of a tower where some crazy wizard might live or maybe Rapunzel's tower. That one was actually fillde by servants carrying buckets of water from the well, if I remember correctly.
That's what came to mind too, or an old quiet European farm in the mountains somewhere. It seemed to have had a strange purpose, I never heard of this concept.
WOW you have some seriously cool and unique water towers there and impressive shots good luck in the view bug contest
Well, I missed the deadline but it was still a lot of fun. Thanks!