Written in 1985 by Peter Margolies, editor of the Westby Times
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The first house in Westby to have official
city water was the house located on
the corner of State and Davidson Street.
The water for this house was supplied from
a windmill located on the highest point
south of where Davidson Park
is located today
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The village board at once decided to bring about the much needed improvement of erecting a steel water tower and providing the village with suitable fire hose, ladders etc. To successfully fight fires.
Accordingly they called a special election to be held May 31, 1899, for the purpose of voting the proposition of bonding the village for $3,800 to build a steel standpipe 16 feet in diameter and 50 feet tall.
The subject was thoroughly discussed and two public meetings were held previous to the election and the result of the vote was 69 for bonding and 37 against bonding…
…It can be said that the work preformed was satisfactory in every respect. The board now turned their attention to the subject of pipes for distribution (of water) and digging of trenches.
The pipes were purchased from the United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Co., and cost about $34 average per ton. The pipes ordered consisted of eight-inch, six-inch and four-inch – about 350 feet of eight inch, 1,500 feet of six inch and the balance being four-inch pipes.
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One of, if not the last windmill located in downtown
Westby. Hardly visible in this photo taken before
1910 has the windmill located behind where
Treasures on Main is located today. Before 1920,
all windmills had disappeared from village of Westby
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Messers. John Makken and Ole Evenson were awarded the contract of digging and filling the ditches, at $1.10 per rod. (One rod equals 16.5 feet.)
Mr. William Tewalt of Viroqua laid the leaded the pipes. Seven fireplugs were placed at different points and four water hydrants were secured to be placed at the terminus of the water mains, north, south, east and west.
It was the intention of the board to use the old village well by running the old well to an eight hole, but it was found that the expense of so doing, was almost equivalent to drilling a new well and in as much as the village would be without water during the time of the repairing of the old well – this fact and the fact that the location of the old well was too low and possibly too close to the stockyards, the board decided to sink the new well near the standpipe.
The well is 300 feet deep and is cased 110 feet from the surface – it is drilled an 8-inch hole and furnishes as good water as can be found in any part of this state. Cost of the well $313.20…”
The well is 300 feet deep and is cased 110 feet from the surface – it is drilled an 8-inch hole and furnishes as good water as can be found in any part of this state. Cost of the well $313.20…”
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The original water tower (stand pipe) built in 1900 at a height of 50 feet. Today
the Stabbur would be located down the hill and in front of the stand pipe
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The amount of pipe used in the system is three carloads or 123,890 feet at a total cost of $1,995.75. The total amount for digging trenches is $493. Amount of pig lead used is $118.22.
It is an improvement of which all our citizens should feel justly pround and they also have the satisfaction of knowing that every part of the work done, is done as it should be, as the prime object of the village board has been to make the plant meet the demands of the village at present and also for time to come.
The efficiency of the system has never in a single instance been sacrificed in order to make a saving of a few dollars.
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Sometime in the 1920s 15 feet was added in height as
well as a roof to keep out dirt and flying creatures
that were falling in our fresh water supply
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According to Westby Public Works Supervisor Dean Warren, cost have gone up somewhat since 1900. For example, while the well dug in 1900 cost $313.20, the last well dug in Westby, in 1975, cost “about $250,000”.
When the water system was installed in 1900 it cost six cents a foot to dig (by hand) and about a penny and a half per foot for the pipe. To lay pipe today cost about $10 per foot according to Warren.
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| Erected in 1984, the current water tower |
Total cost of the original system, including pipe, digging, and leading was $2,506.97. Estimated cost of this summer’s repairs to the system – $425,000.
Of course, it is not just construction costs that have gone up since 1900. According to the Vernon County Historical Society, at the turn of the century corsets sold for $1 (reduced to 75 cents). Ladies extra heavy winter underwear 25 cents. Wallpaper was available for 2.5 cents per roll. A beaver coat cost $11, a men’s suit $15.
The Gypsy Romance was playing at the Viroqua Opera. Tickets went for 15, 25 and 35 cents. And if you were interested in moving west, land in South Dakota was selling for $4 to $15 per acre.
In Westby a half-acre site for construction of the original standpipe was sold by Mr. Ole Thoreson for $100. The site is described as a 60-foot hill, located in the center of the village. On top of this hill and located on solid rock is located the standpipe–a natural elevation such is seldom found in any village or city. And is seemingly intended by nature for just this purpose.
Eighty-four years later a newer version of the standpipe (water tower) is just two blocks south from the original location.
The Police Department was at one time housed where the Stabbur is now located. I have many fond memories of hanging out there with Chief of Police Tilford "Tip" Lund.
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