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The “Water Tank House Project” began March 19th, 2011, at the Patrick Ranch Museum located at 10381 The Midway, Chico, CA.
Fifty Four (54) artists have enrolled in this year-long project. They have painted, drawn, and photographed many of these historic relics scattered over four of our Northern California Counties.
The history of the land, settlement, agriculture and architecture is tied to these sometimes crumbling, sometimes “sort of” maintained, and sometimes stately buildings. We have been gathering information and documenting this grand scale folk art that is an important part of early California history and culture.
This creative endeavor to “save our history” will be showcased in a Juried Exhibition on March 31, 2012. Eighteen of the hundred or more images submitted will be selected and published in a Water Tank House calendar featuring these structures and their history. The calendar will be presented at the Patrick Ranch Threshing Bee in June, 2012, as a fundraiser, and will continue to be available in the Patrick Ranch Museum, the Chico Museum and numerous other locations in the north state.
The original eighteen works of art chosen for this calendar will also be on exhibit at the Chico Museum during the summer of 2012.
“Creative Expeditions” have been scheduled throughout the year by Amber Palmer and Carol Preble-Miles, for the participating artists to capture with camera, pen, pencil and/or paint many of these historic treasures.
Although this duo have “discovered” over 60 tank houses within an hour’s drive of our home base (the Patrick Ranch Museum), we have not been able to visit everyone of them, and know that there are probably more that are hidden from view, and that between the late 1800s to the mid 1930s many more tank houses were in existence. These dinosaurs of yesteryear were once progressive and added modernity and convenience to the home and farm, pre electricity.
These, (some times called) pump houses were built to support 1500-galllon water tanks holding as much as 20 tons of water. They were elevated many feet above the ground to maintain water pressure for the home and for stock watering and irrigation for the farm. The well was usually off to one side, and it is thought that the structure was closed in to provide extra storage space or possible summer sleeping area for farm workers, or male members of the household.
The water was pumped up from the well to the elevated water tank most often by windmills, less often by a mule or horse, dragging an “arm” attached to the pump around in a circle. Stately old homes such as the Patrick Ranch Museum had running water and flush toilets on the second story long before there ever was electricity in the home.
Today we could label these non-electrical, self perpetuating systems as “sustainable “and “green”, It is unfortunate that almost all have been disconnected from their power source, and have either been converted to “something else” or have crumbled and fallen, or been removed altogether. The era of the tank house has passed and they have become an endanger species.
If you are interested in pre ordering calendars, purchasing an ad in the calendar or been a sponsor, you will have contributed towards documenting the history of the Water Tank House in Northern California.
For more information, contact Amber Palmer, Patrick Ranch Museum Fine Arts Consultant, (530) 570-7343 or amberpmft@sbcglobal.net
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