U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey
Bench Mark

"S 2"
1901

Jerry Penry
December 25, 1995

The original description for Bench Mark "S 2" stated that it was a copper bolt set in the southwest corner of a stone base for the railway water tower. The early railroad water towers typically had square piers or cubes that supported the wooden legs. At the time the USC&GS surveyors decided to place a bench mark in the town of Atkinson, Nebraska, the water tank would have only been 20 years old. They could not conceive that the water tank would never be in existence due to the need for the steam locomotives to always require water. Less than twenty years later the railroad decided to replace the original water tower with a new one in September 1920. The new tank was set upon a concrete foundation and the old stone piers were removed and thus also removing the bench mark. In 1995 the old concrete foundation support for the water tower were still present. The foundation was searched and no copper bolt could be found which further proved that it had been set in an earlier foundation pier. The second water tower at Atkinson was torn down in the 1950's. The depot was removed in 1969.

The orginal railroad water tower at Atkinson with the stone cube piers for the tower legs.
The copper bolt was set in the southwest pier that was removed around 1920.

The newer railroad water tower at Atkinson was set upon a concrete foundation.

The concrete foundation for the second water tower was still in place in 1995.

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© Jerry Penry 2010