Gilbert Water Tower, Gilbert, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The Gilbert Water Tower is a historic water tower in downtown Gilbert, Arizona, built in 1925 and tied to the town's farming heritage. It stands in Water Tower Plaza, a small park that also holds the Historic Adobe Pump House, a building once used as a jail.

The story behind it

Gilbert grew up as a farming community, and the tower, completed in 1925, is a reminder of that agricultural past. Water infrastructure mattered in a desert farming town, which is why this tower became a downtown landmark.

Beside it sits the adobe pump house. Besides its role in the water system, it served as a jail, a place where rowdy citizens were held temporarily. The plaza around both structures was renovated in 2024, so the space has a fresh look, while the old buildings remain the centerpiece.

What to look for

• The tower itself rises above the plaza and the surrounding downtown streets, so look up and take in its form from several sides.
• The Historic Adobe Pump House stands close by, and its plain adobe walls look very different from the tower beside it.
• Think about the pump house's past as a lockup for rowdy townspeople and picture how small and basic it must have been.
• The renovated plaza layout shows how the town has made room for the old structures in a modern public space.

Tips for your visit

• Plan on 10 to 20 minutes here, a bit longer if you want to read about the history of the site and the town.
• The landmark is an outdoor plaza at 45 W Page Ave, so you view it from outside. Check current information if you hope to go into any of the buildings.
• Go in the morning or late afternoon for gentler light and cooler walking, especially in the warmer months.
• Treat it as one stop on a walk through downtown Gilbert rather than a destination on its own, since other sights are close by on foot.

See it on a quest

Downtown Gilbert: Trail of the Ghostly Rider brings you to the water tower on foot as one stop on a longer route through the downtown area. The app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle right in front of what you are looking at. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.

Gilbert Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. is a mystery-themed walk that also passes the tower. You move from place to place at your own pace, hear about each one as you reach it, and work out a puzzle on the spot. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.