Weslaco Water Tower

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Weslaco had only been a town for nine years when its leaders decided it needed something serious, something that said: we are here, and we are staying. So in 1928, they built it.

A ground level water storage reservoir, constructed through the efforts of two men whose names the marker makes sure to keep. Mayor David E. Kirgan and city water commissioner William Detlef.

Together, they pushed it through, and when it was finished, that reservoir stood as a symbol of Kirgan's municipal reforms. Not just pipes and concrete. A symbol.

That's the kind of thing a young city reaches for when it wants the world to know it means business. The facility served Weslaco faithfully, right up until 1938, when work was begun on something new right next door. An overhead tank, the kind that stands up tall and announces itself against a South Texas sky.

That project was no small undertaking either. It came under the Works Progress Administration, and it took until 1941 to see it through, completed during the mayoralty of John L. Compere, Jr.

Two mayors, two visions, one site that kept a city running. And today, that ground sits as a reminder of Weslaco's early development as a progressive city. Not every landmark has to tower over you to carry some weight.

What the marker says

This ground level water storage reservoir was constructed in 1928, nine years after Weslaco was founded. Built through the efforts of mayor David E. Kirgan and city water commissioner William Detlef, it was a symbol of Kirgan's municipal reforms. The facility was used until 1938 when work was begun on the adjacent overhead tank. A project of the Works Progress Administration, it was completed in 1941 during the mayoralty of John L. Compere, Jr. The site now serves as a reminder of Weslaco's early development as a progressive city. (1982)