Columbus Waterworks
Columbus, Colorado County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1824 the Mexican government granted Elizabeth Tumlinson and her heirs the land and water rights to this area in the center of Stephen F. Austin's colony. The town of Columbus developed from a small frontier community. A fire in May 1883 destroyed a livery stable and hotel, threatening downtown Columbus to such a degree that the city council was spurred to action. The commissioners court erected a water tower on the courthouse square and a brick pump well based on Spring Street. A water main with seven hydrants was laid around the business district that year and by December 1883 the city orgranized a fire department. Despite the fact that the water from the Colorado River was processed through a filter before it was carried along the pipes to the citizens of Columbus, it was not always suitable for drinking. The city of Columbus contracted for an Artesian well in September 1890. Work on the well was difficult and completion took six months because of several delays. The project was nearly abandoned. In 1909 there were about 100 consumers of the water from Columbus' public water well, which could hold about five hundred gallons at a time and was cut off each night. The river water was considered unfit for drinking. The city installed meters at this time. By 1912 the city faced a water shortage. A new steel tower and reservoir were erected, though citizens continued to value the Artesian well for its purported purity and medicinal properties well into the 1930s. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Columbus grew on land whose water rights were granted to Elizabeth Tumlinson in 1824. After an 1883 fire threatened downtown, the city council built a water tower on the courthouse square, laid mains with seven hydrants, and organized a fire department. Because filtered Colorado River water proved unfit to drink, the city drilled an artesian well in 1890 — prized for its purported medicinal purity — and expanded its reservoir as the town grew.
Why it matters
Columbus's waterworks trace how small American towns confronted fire, sanitation, and growth by building the municipal infrastructure of modern public life.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Elizabeth Tumlinson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Stein-Girndt House
Columbus, TX
Merchant Edward Stein and his wife Angalla built this Columbus home in 1897, hiring the local Wirtz family of builders who raised several of the town's houses. After Edward's death the home passed to relatives, the Girndts, who kept the place as a working household — H.H. tending bees and dabbling in animal folk medicine, Annie running cows, chickens, and a milk route. The family held it into the 1970s, and it still wears its original Queen Anne finery of spindlework and fishscale shingles.
Site of Svrcek Garage
Fayetteville, TX
Frank Svrcek's 1890s building on the Fayetteville square found its calling in the automobile age, housing Walter Meinen's Chevrolet dealership in the 1920s and later a garage where customers drove in the tin doors and out the back. After World War II, Willie Svrcek returned home to reopen the family building as Svrcek Garage, adding fuel pumps and a concrete floor, and even carving out space for an appliance shop. It served as a feed store before being razed in 2012.
Site of Svrcek Building
Fayetteville, TX
An 1890s commercial building on Fayetteville's square anchored a corner of small-town life through the twentieth century, its false front and double doors sheltering a succession of businesses. Owned by the Svrcek family until 1979, it housed the Meith brothers' meat market in the 1920s and two beloved cafés—the Mynar and Evelyn's—before fading into storage. Vacant at last, it was razed in 2012, leaving only this marker.
Industry State Bank
Industry, TX
In February 1911 a group of citizens in the tiny German-Texan community of Industry organized a local bank, opening for business that June on Main Street with a single salaried employee. The institution weathered the Great Depression — deposits fell by more than half before recovering — and grew steadily across the 20th century, one longtime employee staying on the job for 49 years. Renamed Industry State Bank in 1927, it expanded into a multi-community network.