[1] The first water storage facility in the city of Des Moines was located at Seventeenth and Crocker Streets, and it was completed in 1891.

[2] At one time a large arrow was painted on top of the structure to guide pilots to the Des Moines airport.

The tower's original design had called for 16 columns on the base and a colonnade capped with a concrete parapet that would surround the tank.

Other decorative elements that were removed before the tower was built include brackets at the cornice and astragal molding.

As completed, the tank is exposed instead of hidden and its lapped joints continue the vertical lines of the columns on the base.