Official Site of The State of New Jersey

The Hackensack Water Company, chartered in 1869, was one of New Jersey's first public water supply companies in the state. The Weehawken plant provided water from the Hackensack River to the City of Hoboken and outlying regions. It operated from 1883 until the 1920 's when Jersey City companies began supplying the water.

Frederick C. Withers (1828-1901) designer of the water tower was a noted architect of the second half of the nineteenth century. Withers was probably best known for his ecclesiastical architecture, having designed Chapel Hall at Gallaudet College in Washington DC and Chapel of the Good Shepard in New York, both on the National Register of Historic Places. Frederick C. Withers served as an architectural consultant to Frederick Law Olmstead during the planning phases of New York’s Central Park. The Hackensack water tower, built in 1883, is one of a few such towers left in the country and is considered a significant engineering and architectural landmark. According to the National Register nomination “The tower is very much an architectural landmark in New Jersey, significant as a massive yet aesthetic industrial engineering accomplishment.” 

The 2024 grant will help fund an update to a 2002 historic preservation plan. The updated HPP includes conditions assessment, architectural plans and designs, cost estimates, materials analysis, building systems analysis and a maintenance plan. The primary focus is on a HVAC study that would improve interior conditions and expand public use.