Built in 1904,[1] it is Putnam County's oldest water pumping facility; as the first significant water-related public works project in Ottawa, it enabled the creation of a municipal water system in the village.

In its earliest years, the waterworks sheltered equipment used to pump water from municipal wells.

Protected by a roof of ceramic tiles, the building is decorated with stone and wooden elements.

[2] In 1976, the Ottawa Waterworks Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[1] It qualified for inclusion both because of its architecture and because of its place in local history:[3] it was deemed a fine example of a local public works building, and its role as the area's first water pumping station has made it a leading example of the development of early twentieth-century Putnam County.