Title
Castle Hill Water Tank Construction
Subject
Water towers
Description
Castle Hill Water Tank, built in 1915, was a two and one-half million-gallon tank that went up on what was once Bryce Hospital property. The tank stood 60 feet high and was 72 feet in diameter and was built by Col. Woolsey Finnell.
At one time, before the City of Tuscaloosa capped the tank in the 1970s, students would climb the tank's ladders and jump inside for a swim to escape the summer heat. Some considered the tank the gateway to the University of Alabama.
The tank was demolished in 2003 to make room for Capstone Village retirement complex to be constructed.
One of the workers in the photo is the late M. J. Phillips. His granddaughter, Vicki Reece, reports that he worked on this and many other construction projects around Tuscaloosa, including being foreman of the crew that built Denny Chimes on the University of Alabama campus. Phillips told his family that building Castle Hill Water Tank was the hardest and coldest job he could remember. The crew had to carry the wet concrete up the hill in buckets in freezing weather.
At one time, before the City of Tuscaloosa capped the tank in the 1970s, students would climb the tank's ladders and jump inside for a swim to escape the summer heat. Some considered the tank the gateway to the University of Alabama.
The tank was demolished in 2003 to make room for Capstone Village retirement complex to be constructed.
One of the workers in the photo is the late M. J. Phillips. His granddaughter, Vicki Reece, reports that he worked on this and many other construction projects around Tuscaloosa, including being foreman of the crew that built Denny Chimes on the University of Alabama campus. Phillips told his family that building Castle Hill Water Tank was the hardest and coldest job he could remember. The crew had to carry the wet concrete up the hill in buckets in freezing weather.
Source
City of Tuscaloosa
Date
Circa 1915
Contributor
Betty Slowe (Description)
Type
Photograph
Identifier
471
Coverage
Tuscaloosa (AL)
Original Format
Photograph