Description of Historic Place

The Clearwater Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Water Tower, completed in 1904, is a tall wood-frame structure adjacent to the railway line in Clearwater. The provincial designation applies to the building and its grounds.

Heritage Value

The Clearwater CPR Water Tower is an excellent example of an intact railway water tower, one of only two such industrial facilities that remain of the 75 built by the CPR in Manitoba from 1902 to 1925. Designed according to a standard plan, these octagonal wooden structures were required about every 80 kilometres along the railway's extensive network to feed the boilers of its steam-powered locomotives. The Clearwater tower, which holds nearly 182,000 litres of water pumped from a well on the nearby river valley floor, served the CPR until 1957, when the railway converted to diesel locomotives, and still supplies water to its host village.

Source: Manitoba Heritage Council Minutes, January 13, 1996

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Clearwater CPR Water Tower site include:
- the building's placement adjacent to the CPR railway line, which runs south of Boundary Trail, a business street in Clearwater

Key exterior elements that define the tower's utilitarian character and standard CPR design include:
- the tall narrow octagonal massing with a shallow octagonal roof and concrete foundation
- the narrow horizontal wood siding, set between vertical corner boards and painted in the standard CPR maroon colour
- the single, solid wood entrance door and fenestration limited to two rectangular openings
- functional features such as the exterior elements of the water level indicator, consisting of a sliding ball affixed to a rooftop pole, and the supports for the pipe and spout

Key interior elements that define the tower's heritage character include:
- the framework that supports the water tank, comprised of 12 thick timbers set upon concrete bases and strengthened with cross-braces
- the cedar-lined water tank taking up the top half of the structure except for a narrow walkway around its circumference
- the pipes, valves and controls for filling and using the tank