djoles@startribune.com Coon Rapids uses a spunky little raccoon. Blaine's features a pair of majestic trees and a rather low-slung suburban skyline. Robbinsdale's has a sleek little robin all in blue. Now what says Osseo's in one glance. The city has hired a design firm to come up with a new logo for the histor](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/V3UVA67ODNN2BROHZ2V2GUFXME.jpg?&w=1080)
Osseo's 102-year-old water tower has been officially added to the National Register of Historic Places, following years of lobbying for the designation.
The listing, which took effect June 5, recognizes the historic significance of the tower in downtown Osseo. It also opens the door for grants to help support its upkeep.
"By recognizing the significance of your property and planning for its preservation, you are participating in a national movement which aims to preserve, for the benefit of future generations, our cultural heritage," wrote Amy Spong, deputy state historic preservation officer, in a letter to Osseo Mayor Duane Poppe.
The 100-foot-tall water tower was built in 1915 to protect the city in case of fire. It functioned until 2003 — the city now buys its water from Maple Grove — but a whistle on the tower still sounds daily at noon and 6 p.m., a holdover from an era when it was used to call farmers in from the fields.
The water tower is one of just seven historical towers of its kind, with a rounded 50,000-gallon hemispherical bottom, still standing within 50 miles of Osseo.
The city had considered tearing it down, but resident Kathleen Gette started a grass-roots effort to save it, research it and nominate it for the national register.
Now the water tower will be listed, repaired and repainted, and a plaque will be placed on it to commemorate the designation.
"History isn't about old buildings, it's about people and their stories," Gette said in a statement. "The tower's listing in the National Register of Historic Places is a tremendous honor for Osseo and its residents."
