Lawson Tower

Description of the property

The Lawson Tower stands on a slight rise in a large expanse of lawn near the Scituate Common. A large modern school building is located just north of the tower and a church, directly south of the tower, faces onto Parish Road. The tower as originally built in 1900 was a wrought iron standpipe, seventy-five feet high and twenty-five feet in diameter. It was altered considerably in 1902 when the standpipe was completely covered with a wood and shingle cladding and superstructure in a high eclectic revival style. The tower now stands 153 feet high and is a striking visual landmark for miles around. The base of the tower is slightly curved out and then rises, interrupted only by window slits, to the top of the wrought iron tank that the tower encloses.

A massive bracketed band encircles the tower at this point, and supports the bell room, the clock room, and the flared conical roof. The rafter ends under the eaves of the roof of the tower are exposed, adding a decorative touch to the cornice. There are four dormers with pagoda-like roofs topped with small spires on the steeply pitched shingled roof, and a weather vane supported by a decorated pole completes the tower. A turret, attached to the side of the tower and extending up to the cornice, contains a spiral staircase with 123 steps which rise to the bell room. The ground floor entrance to the turret has a pointed arch door, with massive curvilinear hinges. A graceful shingled portico leads into the tower structure itself.

The interior of the tower has circumferential landings at fifteen foot intervals to facilitate the cleaning and painting of the wrought iron water tank.

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Statement of significance

/ARCHITECT The Lawson Tower, a significant architectural landmark in Scituate, is a fas- cinating example of what one man's impact on a community can be. As such, the tower stands today as a memorial to Thomas Lawson, the "Copper King", who did so much for the town of Scituate. Thomas Lawson, a self-made man, was a wealthy Wall Street magnate with a decided flair for attracting attention. When the original wrought iron standpipe was con- structed in 1900 Lawson was in the process of building his home, Dreamwold, which stands across the open lawn north of the tower. Lawson spent close to a million dollars on his estate, and when it was finished in 1901 he was not at all pleased to have to look at the unadorned tank from his bedroom window.

He met with the owners of the private water company that had just erected the standpipe, and ob- tained permission to enclose the tank in a tower which would be more pleasing to Lawson hired an architect to travel to Europe to sketch designs of interesting and unusual towers in England, the continent, and as far east as Con- stantinople. On his return Lawson picked the design of the present tower, said to be from a fifteenth century 'Roman' structure. Lawson then paid to have the tank enclosed by this tower, at a cost of $60,000. At the present cost of materials and labor the tower would cost about $370,000 to replace. The tower, with its shingle covering and architectural detail, may be unique in Massachusetts.

The town takes great pride in the structure, and the community's image is closely linked with this distinctive architectural landmark.