Iron Well

Officially, this is called the "Pryor Avenue Iron Well"--It's an early artesian water well that's located in the Bay View Historic District of Milwaukee. It was built in 1882 & named for its high iron content. When it was first built the water flowed naturally from the pressurized aquifer below. The original hand pump is now replaced with an electric pump, which is required to surface the water. It was designated a Milwaukee landmark in 1980 as the last remaining public well in the city. The monolith was added sometime in the 1920's, is about 5 feet tall, & has a pipe on either side, from which water continuously flows out of and into ground level drainage basins. Many of the area residents still visit the Iron Well to fill up on drinking water. It became a popular alternative to the municipal water supply, which draws from Lake Michigan, during the Milwaukee Cryptosproidium outbreak that occurred in April of 1993. Despite both water sources being physically close to each other, they remain independent & separated by geological strata. I think it's one of those things you have to acquire a taste for --TASTES BAD!! :)