Prospect Park Water Tower (AKA Witch’s Tower)

I used to drive past this iconic tower on my drive to work everyday when I lived in St. Anthony Park. I always knew it as Witch’s Tower but didn’t know much beyond that. After a little googling, here’s what I learned. Witch’s Tower is formally known as the Prospect Park Water Tower. (A decidedly duller name). It sits at the highest point in Minneapolis and is rumored to have been the inspiration for Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.” I’m a little skeptical of that rumor, but it is a fun one to think about. It’s also been nicknamed the “Witch’s Hat Tower” thanks to its distinctive green-shingled, pointed roof. 
The tower stands 110-feet tall and was designed by Norwegian engineer Frederick William Cappelen and completed in 1914. In its early days, the Witch’s Hat had a caretaker, known to local children as “The Wizard.” The tower has a capacity of 150,000 gallons and was operational as a water tank until 1952. In 1955, it was hit by lightning and scheduled for demolition. A successful appeal for preservation left it as one of the last original water towers still standing in the Twin Cities area. The observation deck below the hat’s brim was meant as a bandstand, but that notion was quickly abandoned when it became clear just how difficult it was for musicians to haul their instruments up the tower’s narrow spiral staircase. That deck is now closed to the general public, except for on the first Friday after Memorial Day, so set your calendars now! After climbing the hundred or so stairs, visitors are rewarded for their exertion by a stupendous view of the park and surrounding landscape.