water tower structures in mendocino, california...

Cape Mendocino was discovered by a Spanish explorer in the year 1542 , 300 years later the first permanent non-Spanish settlers settled in the Big River area.

When the town of Mendocino was settled and developed, two and three storied water towers were built and tied to windmills for power to store and provide  sources of fresh water. They operated on a gravity system. Many of the old water towers remain, with a wonderful sense of strength and power on the landscape surrounded by the Pacific Ocean...