Some time ago in the 1990s, mobile phone antennas were added to the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. This site does not know the exact date (readers, please let us know), but this Star Ledger article from that time gives more details on the update.
Here’s a colorful photo of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere from 2013. This image is sent in by Steven Hans Lindner. According to Lindner, this photo was in the Union Township calendar of that year. You can see more of his photos and contact Lindner at his website at https://www.lindnerphoto.com/index .
On 2019-01-11, the World’s Tallest Water Sphere site had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Armand Fiorletti, discussing his role on the building of the Union water tower, his engineering projects, and Union history. Mr. Fiorletti was born in January 1928 and is currently 91 years old. He worked many years for Grassnann and Kreh Inc. […]
Life Is Beautiful. Sometimes you plant seeds, and you watch them grow. Sometimes you reach out to friends, and you see many more answer your call. Our whole purpose on this site has been given back many-times in the emails, photos, stories, news articles, and connections we have made through your contributions. None has touched […]
Multiple contributor and intrepid reporter Tom Haggerty provides this historic photo of Morris Avenue in Union near the Route 22 overpass. The caption in the photo labels the overpass as Highway 29 which is the old name before north/south and east/west highways were given odd and even numbers. The photo appears to be from the […]
An anonymous author contributes this photo and writes: “I have attached a photo taken some time around 2005. It was a very low point in my life when I moved into an apartment. I laid down on the bed and realized my destiny or lack thereof when I saw our friend glaring in at me. […]
I recently read that Google Earth updated their Earth images from Landsat 7 to Landsat 8. Of course the first view I had to inspect was the World’s Tallest Water Sphere and Kawameeh Park. The image looks bright and clear with details I have never seen before. Rooftops, sidewalks, and streets look so clear. The […]
Many New Jersey residents know towns, highways, and diners like the back of their hand. However, how many Jersayans can name the rivers or creeks of their local drainage basin (also known as a water shed). With so many rivers and streams heading to the Atlantic Ocean, I find it hard to believe that most […]
This week on October 28th, 2014, an Antares rocket of the Orbital Sciences Corporation exploded on take-off at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket malfunctioned and was purposely destroyed. This photo shows the burn marks on the launch pad and the adjacent water tower. We reported on the Wallops Island water tower […]
Every once in a while there are some posts about the Union water tower that get me thinking about the intensity of thoughts and the enduring imprint of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. This post is over two years old, but for this site, it is the first time we have read and commented on […]
Here is a photo from November of 2009 of the dismantling and cleanup of the Austin Green Water Treatment Plant in Austin, TX. This photo looks south with Caesar Chavez Blvd. and Lady Bird Lake in the background. This water tower was a true water sphere. Not very tall, but notice the wonderful circularity of […]
Here is a bronze or copper plaque on an Elizabeth River tributary dated 1931 near the World’s Tallest Water Sphere near the Burke Parkway and Kawameeh Drive intersection. This plaque is embedded in a bridge guard rail. I love the green verdigris color of the plaque, the green mossy color spilling below, and the tan/pink […]
We have covered Life Before the Water Sphere – 1951, and now it is time to go way back to life in Union Township, circa 1880, before the Union Flagship, before Springfield’s Playland Park, before the World’s Tallest Water Sphere. From the map, circa 1880, courtesy of the New Jersey Division of Public Records, you […]
Where were you before the World’s Tallest Water Sphere existed? Since Union’s water tower was built in 1964, you would have to be at least 45 years old in the year 2009 to qualify. The map circa 1951 shown above (courtesy the New Jersey Division of Public Records) reveals all sorts of interesting facts about […]
Steven F. Scharff, former Union resident, now of Henderson, Nevada, shares this portrait of self with illuminated tower taken by John R. Scharff on 2008/11/01. The World’s Tallest Water Sphere is gleaming white and certainly is the center of attention of this photograph. Your eyes cannot but help but be drawn to the giant spike […]
Brian Donohue reports (2008-11-10): “Through the fog, I noticed something new protruding from the top of the WTWS. Right out of the sphere. I think they may be putting antennae right on the top of the thing now. Tough to see through the fog. I will be back there this weekend and will try to […]
This photo of the World’s Tallest Water Sphere was taken in the fall of 1998 and shows a clear view of the Elizabethtown Water Company billboard, the ghost water pump logo, and the first cell antenna to gird the structure. Note that at this writing, the WTWS is still ghostly gray, but has 5 cell […]
For many residents of New Jersey, this is a question that is taken for granted. Just as there are many Bobs in your classroom or Marys at your office, there are many Unions in New Jersey. When people mentions the World’s Tallest Water Sphere, it is taken for granted that we mean Union Township, west […]
As you may know from our articles, Elizabethtown Water built the World’s Tallest Water Sphere in 1964. There have been several paint schemes to the WTWS, but at one point the WTWS had a distinctive Elizabethtown Water company logo at the waist. This is shown in our header photo for this site. When the World’s […]
Some coincidences are stranger than fiction, including this set of Water Sphere facts worthy of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! The World’s Tallest Water Sphere is located in Union Township, New Jersey. Less than one mile from the WTWS is Burnet Junior High School. Nearby is Burnet Avenue. Both of these landmarks are named after […]