Hailed as the largest city water tower in the nation when it was completed in 1924, the University Heights Water Tower is a community landmark that was instrumental in the early development of the surrounding neighborhood below it.
As University Heights began developing early in the past century, water had to be pumped up to the area from wells in Mission Valley. At this time the area called “University Heights” was much larger, encompassing communities today known as Hillcrest, North Park and Normal Heights. By the time it reached the top of the mesa the water pressure was extremely low, so in 1910 an elevated steel water tank was built at the corner of Howard Avenue and Idaho Street, along with a collecting reservoir below it. Water was pumped from the reservoir into the tank, where it was then allowed to drop down through a pipe, thus increasing the pressure by gravity.
However due to the further development in the 1920s, a greater water demand was placed on the facility and a newer, larger tank was needed. Work on the new all-steel tower and tank began in 1923 by the Pittsburg-Des Moines Steel Company. The 52’3” tank is supported by 12 steel piers, each resting upon a concrete foundation set nine feet into the hardpan.
To augment the older 1910 reservoir an additional 18,000,000-gallon receiving reservoir was built south of Howard Avenue in 1923. Water from the valley was then pumped here and filtered through large sand-filled redwood tubs to remove iron sediments before it was pumped up into the 1,202,000-gallon capacity tank for distribution below.
In 1948 the Alvarado Filtration was completed at Lake Murray, making the University Heights filtration plan obsolete. The redwood tubs were removed and tennis courts were constructed atop the 1910 collection reservoir’s roof. The reservoir south of Howard was demolished and covered with grass.
North Park’s big green water tower was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Place in 2013 as the University Heights Water Storage and Pumping Station, even though it’s located south of El Cajon Boulevard (on Idaho Street, north of Howard Avenue) — has been, thanks to the efforts of local historian Alexander Bevil. Read more in this Reader article.
