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All the United States South Carolina Walterboro Walterboro Water Tower

Walterboro Water Tower

This South Carolina water tower is an icon of the city of Walterboro, but it also once served as the county jail.

Walterboro, South Carolina

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Rachel M
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Top of the water tower in Walterboro   Mom0ja / Atlas Obscura User
Top of the water tower in Walterboro   Mom0ja / Atlas Obscura User
Down below, you can see the old jail entrance   Mom0ja / Atlas Obscura User
The standpipe tower sits right in the middle of town   Mom0ja / Atlas Obscura User
Walterboro Tower as You Approach it. 03.28.2017   Raven Traveler / Atlas Obscura User
Walterboro Tower 03.28.2017   Raven Traveler / Atlas Obscura User
Interior view   mosherhmh / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Walterboro, South Carolina, is a small city of about 5,000 people, 50 miles or so west of Charleston. They have an annual Rice Festival, an Army Airfield with a Tuskegee Airmen Memorial, and an 800-acre wildlife sanctuary with braided-creek hardwood flats and a bottomland swamp. The skyline, though, is dominated by the Walterboro Water Tower:  a standpipe that is not only the jewel of the city’s water supply system, but which also once held lockups for the county jail.

It took a Boston engineering firm a couple of years to build the tower, which was completed in 1915, and it employs what’s known as a standpipe system. 100,000 gallons of water is stored in the top and, using plain old gravity to pressurize the water up above (with a little help from hydro pumps), the water is pushed down through the pipe system and out to homes and businesses. Constructed of reinforced concrete and standing 133 feet tall, the Walterboro Water Tower is one of only three standpipe systems in the state of South Carolina.

There is a small door at the base of the tower that leads to a space that was once used as a county jail. Long since out of penal service, there are three small cells, and just a couple of windows. Some say that these cells later served as sleeping quarters for stranded travelers who needed a place to stay for a night. Not exactly five-star accommodations – or really any-star accommodations. Unless you count the star on the sheriff’s jacket that may have locked you up back in the day.  

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Architectural Oddities Water Towers Jails Architecture

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Visible from anywhere in town, the water tower sits just off No. Memorial Ave at E. Washington St

Community Contributors

Added By

Mom0ja

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Raven Traveler, mosherhmh, mclesters, Darrell Powers...

  • Raven Traveler
  • mosherhmh
  • mclesters
  • Darrell Powers
  • Eric zzzz

Published

January 25, 2016

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Sources
  • http://www.oldplaces.org/colleton/watertower.htm
  • http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/colleton-county/walterboro-water-tower.html
  • http://randomconnections.com/colleton-museums-and-bbq/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walterboro,_South_Carolina
Walterboro Water Tower
North Memorial Ave at East Washington St
Walterboro, South Carolina, 29488
United States
32.902642, -80.662576
Visit Website
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Nearby Places

Old Sheldon Church Ruins

Yemassee, South Carolina

miles away

Oyotunji African Village

Seabrook, South Carolina

miles away

Dorchester, South Carolina's Abandoned Town

Summerville, South Carolina

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Carolina

South Carolina

United States

Places 102
Stories 15

Nearby Places

Old Sheldon Church Ruins

Yemassee, South Carolina

miles away

Oyotunji African Village

Seabrook, South Carolina

miles away

Dorchester, South Carolina's Abandoned Town

Summerville, South Carolina

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Carolina

South Carolina

United States

Places 102
Stories 15

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