A Circle City Original: The Washington Street Water Pumping Station
- Ed Fujawa
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
The beginning of the modern water system which serves Indianapolis today can be found in White River State Park in the shadow of the Everwise Amphitheater. Here sits a small brick building, with a sign on its north side with reads "Indianapolis Water Company." This building is the Water Company's Washington Street pumping station or pump house, or simply Washington Street Station. The pumping station, one of the older structures in the downtown area, was constructed in 1870-71, and was the first water pumping station which served the city when an attempt was made in 1869 to form a water company, known as the Water Works Company of Indianapolis.
Early on, the pumping station housed steam pumps which used water from nearby wells to supply the city's limited network of mains. On March 31, 1871, a test was conducted at the pumping station where a one and half inch nozzle was opened, and the force of the pumps threw the water 250 feet. The new water company's first subscriber was William H. English, owner of the English theater and opera house on what was then Circle Park.
However the total number of subscribers was limited, and the water company floundered, having laid ten miles of mains with 439 connected properties after the first year (compared with a population of around 50,000), and only 1,330 connections a decade later. Unable to cover operational, construction, and expansion costs, the company was subject to a sheriff's sale, where its assets were purchased by the newly formed Indianapolis Water Company.
Some descriptions of the original pumping station indicate that it was constructed in the shape of an inverted “T” with the stem of the “T” pointing northward. While this was true later in its history, the 1887 Sanborn map below shows a section on the northwest side of the building, in addition to the "T" component.
At the time of the 1887 Sanborn, the building was labeled as the Holly Water Works, named for Birdsell Holly, a waterworks engineer who designed a variety of pumping systems and devices used in municipal water systems. The building maintained this appearance past the turn of the century and was still shown in this configuration in the 1908 Baist Atlas.
When the water company first started, wells located near the Washington Street pumping station provided water for the city. As noted, steam power was first used at the pumping station, as shown in the image below, although the station could also use the water from the Central Canal to power turbines which in turn powered pumps which pushed water through the water mains to customers around the city. At the time, the water of the Central Canal was not used for drinking purposes; just as a source of power for the pumps themselves, and for other industrial purposes in the downtown area. The use of the canal to power turbines differed from early proposals for a water company in the mid-1860s, where a gravity-based system was to be used to maintain water pressure and supply the mains, with water coming from a reservoir on higher ground north of the city, including a possible reservoir at Crown Hill Cemetery.
The Washington Street pumping station continued to serve the city alone until 1890, when the Riverside Station was brought online. This station is located just south of Riverside Park near the confluence of Fall Creek and the White River and obtained water from an adjacent well field and an infiltration gallery, an underground system which collected groundwater and water from the nearby river. Water infiltrated through the gravel and earth underground, into the gallery and then pumped to consumers.
The use of wells at the Washington Street site were discontinued, and the Washington Street pumping station began to receive water from Riverside Station via a large gravity conduit, meaning the water flowed downhill from Riverside to Washington Street, where it was then pumped into the water system.
As of the early 20th century, the Central Canal became the sole source of power for the station, which was equipped with three water turbines which powered De Lavel centrifugal multi-stage pumps capable of pumping over 14 million gallons of water per day when the canal’s water level was at normal levels. As noted in a Water Company publication in 1922, the Washington Street pumping station “is of great value to the Company both on account of its being operated by hydraulic power and because of its proximity to the business center of the city.”
As shown in the Sanborn map above, a leg of the canal ran along the western and rear, or south, sides of the pumping station where the intakes was located. The image below, which is looking towards the east, shows the intake at a point when the canal behind the pumping station was empty, possibly for maintenance. Note the piping going into the building where the turbines were located.
This section of the canal was later filled in, possibly after 1913 flooding resulted in substantial levee and flood protection construction near the pumping station. Water from the canal flowed to the station through an underground flume. The diagram below, from 1946, shows the pump station (shaded in pink) and the flume, highlighted in green, which fed canal water to the station. North is to the left on this diagram.
Photos of the pumping station in its original configuration are scarce. The Riverside Station, although constructed 20 years after the Washington Street station, was documented much more extensively. The image of the pumping station below is undated, but it shows the station in what looks like its configuration as shown in the 1887 Sanborn, including the section on the north west side of the building referenced earlier. This section was apparently removed sometime between 1908 and 1916, creating the "T" shape of the building. The brick smokestack for the station can be seen on the right side of the image.
In 1927, a tornado swept through downtown Indianapolis. Its initial impact point upon crossing the White River was near the Washington Street pumping station. The 200 foot brick stack was brought down, and while some reports indicated it only struck a nearby warehouse, its debris also destroyed part of the northern section of the inverted “T.” “The pumping plant of the Indianapolis Water Company at West Washington street and the river, a brick structure, was wrecked, a 250 foot brick smokestack also being blown across a part of the building,” reported the National Underwriter, an insurance trade journal in the aftermath of the storm. The Sanborn map below, from the 1915 edition, shows the pumping station prior to the tornado. Note the smokestack still standing next to the station.
The pumping station, in its diminished form, continued to be used by the Water Company until 1969 when it was retired. The building was allowed to fall into semi-disrepair, and by the mid 1970s it was covered in ivy and unused. Discussions about a possible park in the area around the pumping station were in progress, and the Indianapolis Water Company donated the building and surrounding land to the city.
In 1980, the property and pumping station was transferred to the new White River State Park Commission. Possible uses for the historic building included as a visitor center or park offices. That same year, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The application for that designation noted that “[t]he Washington Street Pumping Station is significant as one of the oldest extant public structures in the city, and the oldest of is type, and for its role in the development of a city water supply system.” The photos below are from the National Register application and show the condition of the pumping station at the time. Photos by Malcolm Fancher, J. Wilson Photography.
Today, the Washington Street Pumping Station still stands in White River State Park, although as of this post being published it does not appear to be open to the public. In fact, for part of the year the public is unable to get close to the pumping station due to its proximity to the nearby amphitheater, and being within the fenced off area for the venue. However, as of the week of October 20th, the fencing is down, presumably since the concert season has ended.
Outside of the pumping station is a plaque (below) noting the pumping station's status as an American Water Landmark. The plaque details the history of the station up to its preservation in the 1980s, although it identifies the tornado referenced above as occurring in 1930. It further notes that the cupola which was damaged during that storm was removed, and a replacement was installed during the restoration in the 1980s.
The Washington Street pumping station has been used for a variety of purposes over the years, including as offices for the state park, and now for concert related uses. Below are images of the interior of the building during a recent concert, with the old turbines still in place. Not pictured was a nice spread of food for staff and venue workers.
The rear of the building, which was once where the canal was routed to feed the pumping station's turbines, is now filled in with a grassy lawn. Compare this to the image earlier in this post showing the rear of the building when the canal was empty.
To close, below are two aerial images showing a 'then and now' of the pumping station and surrounding area in 1937 and in the fall of 2024.
Sources
Water Service publication, Indianapolis Water Company (1933), Indianapolis Public Library, https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/iwc/id/3586/rec/20
The National Underwriter, May 26, 1927, Vol 31 Iss 21
National Register of Historic Places, Washington Street Station Application https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/4098db1d-6121-495c-ba5c-5755fb8b5c1b/
"Laying Pipe in the Central Canal," Indiana Historical Society, https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p16797coll53/id/3099/rec/54
"Insurance Map of the Indianapolis Water Company Washington Street Station," Indiana Historical Society, https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p16797coll53/id/1840/rec/2
Indianapolis Sanborn Map and Baist Atlas Collection, University Library, https://library.indianapolis.iu.edu/digitalcollections/sanbornjp2
The Water Supply of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Water Company (1922), Indianapolis Public Library, https://www.digitalindy.org/digital/collection/iwc/id/5565/rec/4
Indianapolis Star: May 19, 1927,
Indianapolis News: July 6, 1870, August 5, 1870, March 31, 1871, May 31, 1871, December 28, 1912, May 25, 1933, October 6, 1981