Why is There a Big Mushroom Can Water Tower in Colorado?

Drive through any Colorado town and you might see a water tower. Most of the water towers we see in Colorado are usually painted white and have no real significance to them other than their job of holding water. However, there is one water tower in a Colorado city that is quite historic and almost feels a bit out of place.

This water tower is located in Westminster, Colorado, near the corner of 110th Court and Federal Boulevard. This water tower stands out to commuters not for being a water tower, but for how it is decorated. The Westminster water tower is painted like a can of mushrooms.

Westminster's Mushroom Water Tower

In the early 1920s, Charles Willian Savery started an 80-acre mushroom farm in Westminster, Colorado called Savery Savory Mushrooms. By 1930, Savery turned the company into a supplier of mushrooms to the entire region. Today, the water tower is the only remaining part of the once-booming mushroom operation.

According to the City of Westminster, the water tower was the key to not only successfully growing mushrooms on the farm but also supplying the community that was built by mushrooms with water. The Savery Savory Mushroom company had many years of success until a series of fires destroyed the property. In 1953, Savery retired from the mushroom business and the Savery Savory Mushroom company ceased operations.

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The structures and buildings on the mushroom farm started to deteriorate and needed to be torn down or they collapsed on their own. The only remaining remnant of the once successful mushroom farm is the water tower painted to resemble the Savery Savory Mushroom can.

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The 55-foot tall water tower was listed as a historical landmark on January 24, 2005, and is now owned and maintained by the City of Westminster.