Looming over the north end of Main Street, larger than life, stands one of Garrison’s most…eye-”catching” displays. The Big Bobber water tower, a nod to the city’s proximity to Lake Sakakawea and penchant for fabulous fishing, was completed in 2016 and has a capacity of 400,000 gallons! With the water-blue paint up the neck and waves at the base of the tank, you can almost imagine the tower undulating on the ripples of the lake, waiting for a tiny tug. But what did the city use for retaining water prior to 2016, you may ask. The answer takes us back 100 years and demonstrates the resourcefulness and wit of the people of Garrison.

An original 50,000 gallon water tower was built for the city in 1916, but in three decades, the needs of the burgeoning community would already outgrow what that tower could provide. It was soon determined that the price of taking down the first water tower and then building a bigger one would exceed the price of simply building a second 50,000 gallon tower, and thus was born one of Garrison’s first trademarks. Side-by-side, the water towers stood over the city for the next sixty-eight years, one marked “hot” and the other marked “cold”, a playful acknowledgement of the unique situation Garrison found itself in.

The “hot” and “cold” towers became a recognizable feature of the city and the background for heaps of photographs. In the 1990s, when it was time for a new coat of paint, the towers even displayed their school spirit with the addition of the Garrison “Troopers” name and mascot, a call-back to the soldiers at the historic Fort Stevenson.

Though the “hot” and “cold” towers have now been replaced, the memories will not be short-lived, and the city of Garrison continues to exhibit its fine sense of humor with the current Bobber tower. After all, if you can maintain a civic necessity while making people smile at the same time, why not?