The Arlington Reservoir water tower, not to be confused with the body of water called the Arlington Reservoir, is a water tank at the top of the largest hill in Arlington Heights on the western side of Arlington.

The water tower is located in the middle of Park Circle, a round road that loops around the apex of the Heights’ main hill.

Across the street is one of Arlington’s fire stations.

Paul Schlichtman, member of the Arlington School Committee and webmaster of Arlington-Mass.com, refers to the water tower as the Arlington Standpipe on this page about a tour of the tower (check it out for photos of the tower from 2002!)

Whatever it’s called, the water tower is an architectural and historical landmark for Arlington. It’s been in the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. Plaques on the tower detail its history.

The tower itself has been around since the early 1920s, when Crane Construction Company built it to replace the standpipe-style water tower that had been there since 1895. The 1920s water tower holds about 1,945,000 gallons more water than the original.

The tower’s facade is in the Classical Revival style, a neoclassical architectural style that draws inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman structures. Classical Revival was popular in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s; its affiliation with the perceived grandeur of classical empires fit well with American national self-perception during the Gilded Age. The water tower’s style can be seen on other 20s landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial.

But mostly, the thing holds water.