Crenelated water tower contains a museum.

War Museum in a Water Tower

Columbus, Texas

Built in 1883 with 400,000 bricks, the tower originally supported a big tank filled with water used to douse downtown fires. When Columbus got a water system, the tank was taken off the top of the tower and the town tried to blow up the tower with dynamite. Its three-foot-thick walls wouldn't budge. Now looking like a wayward tower from a medieval castle, it was turned over to The United Daughters of the Confederacy, which used it as their meeting place. In 1962 -- during the battle years of segregation -- it officially became the Columbus Confederate Memorial Museum. Changed its name to the "War Memorial Museum" in the 2020s. One exhibit of note: a three-barrel shotgun.

War Museum in a Water Tower

War Memorial Museum

Address:: Milam St., Columbus, TX
Directions:: War Memorial Museum. Downtown, on the northeast corner of Spring St. and Milam St./Hwy 52. One block south of US Hwy 90.
Hours:: Last Sa of month, Mar-Nov, 9-12. (Call to verify)
Phone:: 979-732-5135
Admission:: Free, donation jar.

Nearby Offbeat Places

Mary Elizabeth Hopkins Santa Claus Museum, Columbus, TX - < 1 mi.

9/11 Fire Hydrant Memorial Garden, Columbus, TX - 3 mi.

Stanzel Model Aircraft Museum, Schulenburg, TX - 22 mi.

In the region:

World's Longest Car Wash, Katy, TX - 42 mi.

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