Frenchman's Tower
Water tower in Palo Alto, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Frenchman's Tower is a two-story red brick structure located in Santa Clara County, California, that resembles a medieval fortification. Built in 1875, the structure was listed as a California Point of Historical Interest in 1969.[1][2][3]
Frenchman's Tower | |
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Frenchman's Tower on Old Page Mill Road | |
General information | |
Status | Completed |
Type | Water tower |
Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
Location | San Francisco peninsula |
Address | 2065 Old Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California |
Town or city | Palo Alto |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 37.396132°N 122.161895°W / 37.396132; -122.161895 |
Elevation | 200 ft (61 m) |
Completed | 1875 |
Owner | Stanford University |
Height | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
Dimensions | |
Diameter | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
Technical details | |
Structural system | Brick Masonry |
Floor count | 2 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Paulin Caperon (aka Peter Coutts) |
Designations | California Point of Historical Interest |
The structure was built under the direction of land owner Paulin Caperon, a native of France who had assumed the name Peter Coutts when he moved to Mayfield, California in 1875. Coutts returned to France in 1882 without letting his California neighbors know what happened to him and ordered a bank to liquidate his Mayfield property.
Since then trespassers have carved names or initials into almost every brick of the tower within their reach.[4] Some dates go back over 100 years.[5] In 1970, the landowner bricked in the windows to protect the structure from vandals.[5] Frenchman's Tower stands on Old Page Mill Road, midway between Foothill Expressway and Interstate 280, in Santa Clara County, California, within a strip of land within the borders of Palo Alto on land now owned by Stanford University.[6]