Historian and author Walter E. Boright, Ed.D.
The Kenilworth Water Tower located on N. Michigan Ave. was built in 1940 by the Plainfield-Union Water Co. Today it is owned by the American Water Co.
The tower sits almost where the main building of the old Upsala College stood from 1899-1924 on what then was called College Hill. Of the original 14-acre campus, the water company owns 6.5 acres which were assessed in 2016 at $522,600, resulting in a tax payment of $25,058 to the borough. The hill rises 166 feet above sea level with the tower rising another 105 feet.
When the tower was erected in 1940, N. 21st St. was one continuous unpaved road to the top of the hill. Trucks and workers got to the top by travelling up that route. In the late 1940s an unrelated excavation project took place that left an expansive hole at the end N. 21st St. In the late 1960s houses were built in that depression on new streets – Upsala Ct. and Via Vitale. The earth moving also resulted in hollowing out of a vast area at the ends of N. 17th to N. 19th streets. This created an amphitheater of sorts where the Black Brook Park ball field is now located.
Eugene Coppola, now 97 years old, witnessed the tower’s construction. He said, “They came in with big flatbed trailers. Each could hold only one giant curved steel section several inches thick. Huge cranes lifted sections into place. They riveted and welded them together.”
Originally painted black, it was changed to a light blue hue in the 1960s to better blend in with the sky. It bears the name Kenilworth at its crown.
Research for this article was provided by Walter E. Boright, Ed. D., historian, and Historic Signs, Inc. The 1940s photo depicting the excavating away of part of College Hill and hollowing out today’s ball field is from the Ray Scheuerer collection. Persons with inquiries about this or other aspects of Kenilworth history may contact Dr. Boright at drbori@aol.com or 908-256-5200.
