Clock Tower

Before the waterworks was built, locals drew water from public and private wells. In 1870, residents and business owners started to call for a waterworks to be built, arguing that it would increase protection against fires, improve sanitation, and help the city grow. In September the state legislature approved the project and local fire chief John Noble spearheaded the effort. He and others, including the mayor, visited Bowling Green, Kentucky, to examine the water tower there. The community debated the project in the coming months and then voted in favor of it in February 1871.

Noble, who was a master mechanic and artisan, designed the waterworks. His family owned a heavy ironworks in Rome and the company manufactured the cistern. The octagonal tower is an attractive brick structure, featuring corner pilasters (columns) and arched windows. A spiral steel staircase leads to the top of the structure. The cistern, which is 26-feet in diameter and 60 feet deep, could hold almost a quarter of a million gallons of water that was pumped in from a nearby well. The clock tower is made of wood and also includes a bell. It was added in 1872 and the clock itself was manufactured in Boston.

In the 1890s, the tower could no longer meet the water demands of the city and was replaced by a reservoir on Jackson Hill. The clock continued to operate, however. By the 1980s, the tower was in need of repair and renovation work was completed in 1995. It was at this time that the tower opened to the public.

"Clock Tower." Roadside Georgia. November 16, 2003. http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/clocktower.html.

Henson, Steve. "Clock Tower." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. February 08, 1980. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/83bbcd16-cce9-4b4c-9733-14861900774d.