Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower
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 Location in Illinois
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| Built | 1949 |
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| NRHP reference No. | 02000847 |
| Added to NRHP | 2002 |
Imagine a giant bottle of ketchup! The Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower is exactly that. It's a huge water tower shaped like a catsup bottle. You can find it near Collinsville, Illinois. Many people say it's the biggest catsup bottle in the whole world! This unique tower is a great example of novelty architecture. That means it's a building designed to look like something else. It's so special that it's on the National Register of Historic Places. This makes it an important landmark and a fun stop for people traveling by car.
Building the Giant Catsup Bottle
The Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower was built a long time ago, in 1949. A company called the W.E. Caldwell Company constructed it. The main reason for building it was to hold water for the nearby Brooks catsup factory. This factory was owned by the G.S. Suppiger Company.
The company's president, Gerhart S. Suppiger, had a cool idea. He suggested that the water tower should look just like one of their famous catsup bottles. This creative idea made the tower a unique landmark.
Saving the Catsup Bottle Tower
In 1993, the company that owned the Brooks plant decided to sell the property. They offered the special water tower to the city of Collinsville. However, the city couldn't buy it. The tower was old and needed a lot of expensive repairs.
But people in the community really loved the giant catsup bottle! Over two years, many volunteers worked hard. They raised $80,000 to fix up the tower. This money helped to clean, repair, and paint the big structure. The restoration project finished in June 1995. Because it was so unique and important, the tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in August 2002.
