Water Towering

The first water tower in Robbinsdale was erected by the Dickinson & Gillespie Real Estate Company in their McNair Manor development. The company spent $250,000 before any houses were built. Streets were laid and this classic, 50,000-gallon water tank was erected at the corner of Parkview Boulevard and 27th Avenue North.

In 1924 McNair Manor developers suffered a public relations blow when they offered to sell their water to the Village of Robbinsdale and the village rejected the offer due to the poor quality of the well. The water tank was torn down in 1935. The hill it sat on is still known as Tanker Hill in the neighborhood.

For many years Robbinsdale had a $10,000 a year water contract with Minneapolis. People grew tired of the expense and made their opinions known through series of mass meetings. On August 14, 1936, Robbinsdale’s Village Council voted unanimously to install a well and water tank. In July of 1937, the Village purchased a patch of land at 41st and Hubbard from Edith Robbins Daniel at the cost of $18,000. The Chicago Iron and Bridge Company was hired to build Robbinsdale’s iconic water tower, completed  . The structure was completed on October 18, 1937,  and dedicated in conjunction with the city’s second annual Goodwill Days Civic Celebration on August 27, 1938.

The 150,000-gallon tank stands 160 feet high. At the time it was believed to be the tallest in the state. In 1943, the War Production Board granted permission for another well near North Memorial Hospital, now called Well No. 3. In 1945, Well No. 2 was dug next to Well No. 1 near the first Water Tower. Because of the burgeoning population after World War II, a fourth well was drilled at 38th and Scott in 1954, and another at Drew and Lowry Avenue North in 1956.

In 1957 a new 115-foot, 500,000-gallon water tower was completed on the south side of town. Numerous dead-end mains were looped and this second water tower improved water pressure throughout the city.  In 1961, after three years of arguing, the Robbinsdale City Council voted to filter the iron and manganese out of the city’s water. Two filtration plants were built, one at 41st and Hubbard and another at Oakdale and Beard Avenues. The plants served five wells.

In 2020 Robbinsdale began work on several major projects to update and improve the city’s drinking water. Old wells were decommissioned, and construction began on new wells and a new centralized water treatment plant to provide softened water. The resulting Robbinsdale Water Transformation Project received a Project of the Year Award from the American Public Works Association Minnesota. This project included the construction of a new 3.5 million-gallon-per-day lime softening water treatment plant, a water tower, and two wells. The new water tower stands near Lower Twin Lake at the intersection of Highway 100 and Bottineau Boulevard.

Based on community feedback, the downtown water tower will remain as a historic landmark, but will no longer be operational.