BlockBefore
Photograph of Lusk Water Tower
Photograph by Ammodramus, CC0 1.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Lusk Water Tower

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

From the record

“The Lusk Water Tower was built in 1886 to provide water for steam locomotives on the former Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad, at Lusk, Wyoming. Lusk itself was built by the railroad at the same time.”

Wikipedia article Lusk Water Tower, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 4 National Register listings published here for Niobrara County · listed in 1991 · category: Structure.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Along C & NW RR tracks across from US 20, Lusk, 82225
  • When was it listed? August 1991
  • Category. structure
  • Census division. East Niobrara
  • National Register reference number. 91000997 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

7 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Lusk Water Tower between 1992 and 2020, burning about 116 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Natural3
Debris and open burning1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
29 August 2020Natural1.0 acresNiobrara CountyJOHNSON FIRE
5 June 2020Natural100 acresNiobrara County43 FIRE
28 June 2020Natural14 acresWyoming State Forestry4-3 FIRE
24 June 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreNiobrara CountyBONE FIRE
1 June 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNiobrara CountyJORDAN FIRE
12 February 1992Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWyoming State Forestrynot named
18 January 2009Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreWyoming State Forestrynot named

Every fire recorded in Niobrara County

Mines and quarries near this property

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Lusk Water Tower: 1 occurrence, 1 past producer, 1 unknown, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Uranium, Uranium, Silver, Radium, Gold, Copper, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Silver Cliff MineUranium, Silver, Radium, Gold, CopperPast Producer1879, 1880, 1953
UnknownCopperUnknown
N. Edge of Town CemeteryUraniumProspect
Unknown-No.1UraniumOccurrence

Every working recorded in Niobrara County

Storms near this property

60 of 70 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lusk, the town this property stands in, in 70 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 58 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 1996Thunderstorm WindLusk$10,000no account filed
August 1996HailLusk$10,000no account filed
August 1996HailLusk$5,000no account filed
May 1998HailLusk$4,000A storm produced quarter size hail in Lusk.
June 2025Tornado (EFU)Lusk-Numerous spotter reports of funnels and occasional touchdowns.
July 2023HailLusk-Emergency manager reported quarter size hail along US-18 north of Lusk between mile markers 153 and 155.
July 2023HailLusk-Hail reports ranged from pea to ping pong ball size.
July 2023HailLusk-Quarter sized hail. Visibility 50 yards in mostly hail.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindLusk-Emergency manager estimated winds of 70 to 80 mph across the town of Lusk. Cedar tree (80 feet tall) reported broken in half.
June 2023Flash FloodLusk-Niobrara County Emergency Manager reported 3 inches of rain in Manville that flowed east into the Niobrara River that runs into Lusk. Niobrara River in Lusk was out of its banks.
September 2023HailLusk-Local Emergency Management reported nickel to quarter sized hail along US Highway 85, 10 miles NNE of Lusk.
September 2023HailLusk-The public reported tennis ball sized hail 15 miles NE of Lusk.
September 2023HailLusk-The public reported racquetball sized hail 12 miles NE of Lusk.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindLusk-Received report of strong winds causing a parked camper to move.
July 2020HailLusk-Observer noted shredded leaves with property damage to home and car from falling hail. Damage included car dents, shingles loosened and broken house windows.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindLusk-Wind gusts estimated between 65 and 70 mph blew out a 16-foot section of a wooden wind break barrier.
June 2018HailLusk-Ping pong ball size hail was observed south of Lusk.
May 2018HailLusk-Quarter size hail covered the ground southwest of Lusk.
August 2017HailLusk-Quarter size hail was observed 12 miles southeast of Lusk.
July 2017HailLusk-Quarter to ping pong ball size hail was observed northeast of Lusk.
June 2016HailLusk-Quarter size hail was reported west of Lusk.
May 2016HailLusk-Half dollar size hail was reported six miles east of Lusk.
May 2016HailLusk-Quarter size hail was reported northeast of Lusk.
September 2016HailLusk-Quarter size hail was reported at Lusk.
June 2016HailLusk-Nickel to quarter size hail was reported west of Lance Creek.
July 2015HailLusk-Golf ball size hail was observed ten miles northwest of Lusk.
June 2015HailLusk-Quarter size hail was reported at Lusk.
July 2015HailLusk-Quarter size hail was reported at Lusk.
June 2015HailLusk-Quarter size hail was observed 17 miles northeast of Lusk.
September 2014Heavy RainLusk-An observer in Lusk measured 2.12 inches of rain.
July 2013HailLusk-Penny to quarter size hail was reported.
May 2013Funnel CloudLusk-A brief funnel cloud was reported six miles east of Lusk.
May 2013HailLusk-Penny to quarter size hail was observed 10 miles east of Lusk.
June 2013HailLusk-Quarter size hail was observed west of Lusk.
June 2013HailLusk-Quarter size hail was reported northwest of Lusk.
June 2013HailLusk-Nickel to ping pong ball size hail was reported north of Lusk.
June 2012HailLusk-Golf ball sized hail was reported in Lusk.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLusk-A trained spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph along with pea size hail.
May 2010HailLusk-Law enforcement estimated 1 inch hail fell in town.
June 2010HailLusk-Some hail as large as 2.25 inches on 28 mile road.
May 2009HailLusk-Hail reported from 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter.
June 1999Tornado (F0)Lusk-Tornado reported on U.S. Highway 85 at mile marker 174, just outside of Lusk, WY
May 1998Tornado (F0)Lusk-A brief tornado was reported by local area law enforcement, 50 miles north of Lusk.
July 2024HailLusk-no account filed
May 2023HailLusk-no account filed
July 2023HailLusk-no account filed
July 2023HailLusk-no account filed
June 2023HailLusk-no account filed
July 2020HailLusk-no account filed
July 2020HailLusk-no account filed
August 2019HailLusk-no account filed
July 2018HailLusk-no account filed
June 2010HailLusk-no account filed
July 2008HailLusk-no account filed
May 2007HailLusk-no account filed
August 2007Thunderstorm WindLusk-no account filed
May 2006HailLusk-no account filed
July 2006HailLusk-no account filed
June 2005HailLusk-no account filed
June 2005HailLusk-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Niobrara County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

1 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
C and H Refinery Historic District1.4 miles2001

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 91000997 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Niobrara CountyAll 4 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.