In response to the need for a water supply system for Colorado, as this town was then known, the city's governing body issued waterwork bonds in 1884. The bond money was used to build this standpipe and to lay mains through which the city's water supply could run. The 90-foot steel standpipe was erected in 1884 by Riter and Conley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and continues in use as a storage facility for emergency water needs. The development of the city's water services was a major factor in the town's survival in the dry West Texas area. (1985)