Arthur Boniface Water Tower

In 1921 the village of Scarsdale purchased the land where eight years later the Boniface Water Tower was built. Neighbors in the well-to-do neighborhood objected to the building of the unsightly water tower and brought an unsuccessful lawsuit to prevent the village from building it. The village compromised by agreeing to hide the water tank in an artfully designed masonry tower, modeled after a Martello tower.

The water tower was designed to resemble the old Martello towers of England. The word Martello comes from Cape Mortella in Corsica where a similar tower was the site of resistance to the English fleet in 1794. 

The water tower in Scarsdale was originally called the Grand Standpipe and later the Garden Road Standpipe. It wasn't until 1943 that it was called the Arthur Boniface Water Tower. Arthur Boniface was from the Village of Scarsdale, serving from 1918-1943, on the Board of Trustees as both Village Engineer and Village Manager.

The Boniface Water Tower is an 100 foot high masonry structure on one and a half acres of land. Inside the metal standpipe contains 1,700,000 gallons of water. The spiral stairway inside contains 155 steps, each a length of 7 3/4 inches in height. The cost to build the water tower was $153,163, with $100,000 being used for the tower’s masonry cladding. 

1. Leavitt, Linda. "Three Scarsdale sites placed on new county historic registry." The Scarsdale Inquirer (Scarsdale) August 12th 1988. .
2. Arthur Boniface Water Tower, Village of Scarsdale Westchester County. Accessed November 22nd 2020. https://www.scarsdale.com/180/Arthur-Boniface-Water-Tower.
3. "Water Tower, Road Will Bear Name of Arthur Boniface." The Scarsdale Inquirer (Scarsdale ) October 1st 1943.
4. Dolkart, Andrew S.. Reconnaissance Level Cultural Resource Survey Report, Amazon News. July 12th 2012. Accessed December 16th 2020. https://s3.amazonaws.com/scarsdale/120712+Scarsdale+Cult+Resc+Survey+Rpt.pdf.