In Downtown Gilbert, a small area first built in the 1990’s with old-fashioned buildings and some of the best-rated restaurants in the town, a towering water tower casts a looming shadow over the cars zooming down the streets far below. When locals of the farming-town-turned-suburban-area glance up at the old water tower, they are reminded of the small plot of land Gilbert used to be, and how it has been transformed into the bustling town it is today. While the water tower may not be in use anymore, it still serves as a nostalgic reminder of days past, and serves as an interesting site for tourists or visitors to the town to visit and research. 

When the Gilbert Town Council constructed the Gilbert Water Tower back in 1925, it was a shock for the citizens in the miniscule town, which had only been founded five years earlier. The mayor at the time, Claude J. Cullumber, foresaw the need for readily available water for the townspeople, who had mostly migrated there to buy land and farm. The plans for the water tower were a big undertaking for the new community, who had not attempted constructing a structure on this grand of a scale in the town’s history. The water tower proved to be a success, leading to water lines being laid throughout the town and providing the small population of 500 residents with pressured water directly streamed to their houses. This new water streaming system was also beneficial to the community, as it enabled a volunteer fire-fighting department to begin fighting fires in the small town.

Today, the water tower is no longer in use, but still stands as a nostalgic reminder of what the town of Gilbert used to be. The tower is located in Downtown Gilbert, in the 0.7-acre park that has come to be known as Water Tower Plaza. Within the park lies a splash pad for little kids to play in during the hot summer months, a historic adobe pump house that was originally Gilbert’s first jail, and a 9.5 ton granite ball called a kugel ball. Children can push this ball in any direction they please, and marvel at their strength as the 19,000-pound ball moves with their will! The Water Tower Plaza offers a fun day outside for the whole family, promoting a safe atmosphere for everyone who comes to visit the towering, rickety water tower.

While the historic structure may not look like much now, it once was a symbol of hope and safety in a town that did not know whether it would survive throughout the years. The Gilbert Water Tower brought the first inhabitants of Gilbert, Arizona comfort and peace of mind, knowing that there was something out there that would be able to keep their crops and their families alive. Even though it may not be in use today, there is no doubt that the locals of Gilbert still look to that water tower as a sign of hope and comfort, and use it as motivation to press on in the memory of their ancestors who founded this town so many years before them.