Ypsilanti Water Tower Virtual Reward 3.0 Virtual Cache

Please read this first! It will save you some hassle and likely a lot of money... PARKING!

We are an old city and with that come crazy roads and impossible parking! I have included legal parking for your convenience. There are other places to park but those would be at your own risk (we do have a parking authority (cops) who give out tickets). The parking is also metered.

When I stopped here to take pictures and gather information from GZ I placed a single quarter in the meter and was there and back again with enough time. Also, look in images and you will find a meter that has the current (as of publishing) zone information to use a parking app because who carries dollars let alone change around any more eh!?

A note about Terrain. This is a wheelchair accessible geocache. There are paved sidewalks to and from the tower, However. The city (perhaps Eastern Michigan University?! not sure who is responsible) has not done a great job of maintaining the pavement and there is not a curb cut at the tower. I apologize for this inconvenience. For those going during winter, sidewalk maintenance is spotty at best. That could pose an issue. All other seasons should be a short 500 or so feet walk up a sidewalk from posted parking.

And now onto the show...

Welcome to Ypsilanti Michigan! We are REALLY happy to have you here!

I have been waiting to be awarded my very own virtual because I knew this place needed to be a virtual geocache! and here we are, yeah!

First! We are a tiny city but a city we are! There are 4 Ypsilanti's! The one you are standing in. One just around the way that is actually a township (aka Y-town), another in Georgia and another in North Dakota! But only one of these places has this quite unique water tower.

Your mission! or how you can claim your find; you will need to do ALL of these:

FIRST. Go to the water tower and have a look around (see parking info above). While on site you will find the simple answers to these three questions; please don't overthink it. Please message or email me these answers. DO NOT PUT THESE IN YOUR PUBLIC FOUND IT LOG.

    1. On the east side of the tower is a staircase. How many steps up from the side walk to the door?

    2. On the west side of the tower up above the door a bit, the masons who placed the stones for this tower added a little extra. What image can you see? Hint, it is not right above the door. Look up father.

    3. Also, on the west side of the tower there is a plaque near the tower. On this plaque is the date that the tower was completed. What year does that plaque say the tower was completed?

BONUS: Night caching: What colors are the lights tonight? They change often. Mostly to represent a holiday or season.

In your found it log that you will post publicly, please:

SECOND. stand before the tower and send me a picture of you or if you are camera shy a picture that is uniquely you that proves to me you came and you saw. No armchair finders thank you ma'am! PUT THIS IN YOUR LOG

BONUS. In your own creative way please describe what you saw today?  (yes, we do think it looks like that too! ). PUT THIS IN YOUR LOG

Here is some interesting background information for our water tower.

The stone water tower has been considered a symbol of Ypsilanti for many years. The landmark retains the original design as completed on February 3, 1890, and has been in continuous service since that time. The 147-foot high elevated reservoir contains a steel tank with a 250,000-gallon capacity. The main purpose for the reservoir is to store a reserve supply of water to feed cast iron mains constructed in 1885. The elevation provides sufficient gravity pressure to furnish fire service in emergencies.

In planning the design, Mr. W. R. Coats, construction engineer, considered purpose as well as overall appearance. Resting on a foundation of concrete mortar six inches deep, the substructure walls, made of Joliet stone, are 40 inches thick at the base and 24 inches thick at the top.

Constructed on top of the walls were l0-inch steel I-beams spaced two feet apart and crossing the walls at right angles. The steel reservoir tank rests on the beams and walls of the substructure. Finally, at 147 feet above ground level, there is a cupola with glazed windows. The total cost of construction was $21,368.

The tower was constructed with local day labor. To Mr. Coats's chagrin, the workers constructed three stone crosses, one over the outside west door and two others inside the tower, to protect them from injury. In fact, there were no fatal accidents during construction.

To maintain the solidity and beauty of the tower, YCUA (Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority) had the structure renovated in 1976 at the cost of $114,694. This involved reshingling the roof, replacing beams and barriers, repainting and other general repairs. In 1987, YCUA reconstructed the entry doors. With each repair and renovation, YCUA has always attempted to maintain the original appearance of the tower.

YCUA's water tower was acknowledged in 1975 when it was selected as an American Water Landmark by the American Water Works Association (AWWA). The tower is one of several sites selected in the nation for its historical significance to the community as a water supply and the first designated site in the State of Michigan. In 1987, the Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation honored the structure by designating the tower as a historical architecture in Ypsilanti.

In 1988, the Ypsilanti stone tower became a Registered Michigan Historical Site as listed by the Bureau of History, Michigan Department of State. A large marker beside the tower reads: "Day laborers constructed this water tower, which was completed in 1890 at a cost of $21,435.63. The tower and the city waterworks supplied 471 customers in the first year. An ordinance passed on April 14, 1898 established a yearly rate schedule. Rates were based on the number of faucets in use, the type of business that customers operated and the livestock they owned. A residence with one tap was charged $5.00; a private bathtub cost an extra $2.00. Saloon keepers paid $7.00 for one faucet, $3.00 for each additional faucet, and $1.00 for each billiard table. Each cow a person owned cost $1.00. People who failed to pay their bill were subject to a $50.00 fine and ninety days in the county jail. Until 1956, this structure was the only water tower in the Ypsilanti water system."

In 1996, the stone tower was designated a Michigan Historical Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). In 2004, it was featured in the national magazine, Esquire, in a column titled, "Man At His Best: The Nine Most Remarkable Things in Culture This Month."

As a landmark and attractive physical feature, the Ypsilanti Water Tower continues to be a symbol of the city of Ypsilanti.

-- Prepared by Fred Ibbetson, Retired Water Superintendent

information downloaded on April 8, 2022 from: https://www.ycua.org/stonetower.htm

Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.

The placer of this Geocache is a proud Lake Superior memeber of MiGO (Michigan Geocaching Organization).