Towns with Smiley Face Water Towers
Smiley Face water towers can be found from Atlantic coast towns clear out to the Great Plains. We're not sure why the phenomenon peters out short of the Rockies. Here is a list of current Smile Face water tower sightings. If you notice something we've missed, or can contribute a photo -- let us know.
| Alabama | Selma | City water tower, painted yellow with a smiley face.
Smiley Face Water Tower:
Address: Selma, AL [Show Map] Directions: Overlooks US Hwy 80 and downtown Selma. |
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| California | Helm | Not a water tower -- probably a storage tank of some type. He appears to have designs on his companion... (Simplot J R Company, between Hanford and Hwy 5. 12688 S Colorado Ave) |
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| Iowa | Adair | Water tower erected in 1979. "Adair -- It'll make you smile!" Intense Smiley atmosphere of the '80s and '90s diminished by loss of Happy Chef restaurant and other grin-related businesses. May have once been the "Happiest Town in America." Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Hillcrest St., Adair, IA [Show Map] Directions: Visible from I-80 east of Adair. Exit 76 into town to seek happiness... |
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| Illinois | Atlanta | Town where the hot
dog muffler man also
resides. Both arrived in 2003, the town's 150th birthday. In 2003, cost
$175K to repaint and update with canary yellow with black smiley face,
base
painted
white.
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| Illinois | Calumet City | Calumet City boasts of its TWO Smiley Face
water towers -- "Mr. & Mrs.
Smiley." Claims the earliest Smiley WT, in 1973. Bumper stickers say:"Home
of the Smiling Water Towers."
Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Calumet City, IL [Show Map] Directions: Visible in the north distance from I-94. |
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| Illinois | Makanda | Tall yellow sphere, emblazoned with a Smiley
Face. Makanda is also home to the Boomer
the Dog monument. Update - Nov. 2004: A repainting project
included adding a bowtie to honor a Makanda native, the late
US Senator Paul Simon.
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| Illinois | Thomasboro | Blue-green sphere with a Smiley Face, near Rantoul.
Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Rantoul, IL [Show Map] Directions: East of I-57, exit 250 north of Rantoul. |
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| Illinois | Watseka |
Eerily similar to the big yellow sphere
with a Smiley Face in Thomasboro/Rantoul and "WATSEKA" labeled vertically. Latest report verifies they are not the same water tower! Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Watseka, IL [Show Map] Directions: Some miles west of Watseka, just east of I-57 at US Hwy. 24. |
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| Indiana | Ashley | Painted bright yellow and with smiley face,
this water tower also sports a black bow tie.
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| Indiana | Markle | Not yellow, but light blue, and not even
round. and it features a black button nose. Not really a Smiley face....?
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| Michigan | Flushing | Water tower painted with smiley face, reported to be nicknamed "Kick-boy-Face."
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| Michigan | Fruitport | Water tower painted yellow with smiley face. Two spotlights for night viewing
added March 2005. Face painted on when tower was first built in 1975. In
2000,
residents voted to keep the smile on the water tower. Town plans to conduct
a naming contest.
Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: 6435 Airline Hwy, Fruitport, MI [Show Map] Directions: Adjacent to United Building Centers, 6435 Airline Hwy. |
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| Michigan | Ironwood | Smiley Water Tower, spotted in the fading light behind an industrial park. On the eastern edge of town. Visible from eastbound US 2, at the top of a distant hill. |
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| Michigan | Millington | Smiley Water Tower, with overly large black eyes. Visible on north side of M-15 |
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| Michigan | Wells | A small town contiguous to Escanaba in the upper peninsula of Michigan on the north shore of Lake Michigan. East and south of the Gardens Of Rest cemetery, about two blocks east of M-35/US-2
(towards the lake). |
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| Michigan | West Branch | "City with a Smile." A classic yellow Smiley water tower, promoted by
local booster Ralph "Mr. Smiley" Steinhauser. Town maintains
an old police prowler, painted yellow and decorated with the Smiley water
tower, to
promote safety.
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| Minnesota | Freeport | A silver cylinder with conical roof, features a Smiley Face in the classic
bracketed grin and close-set eyes.
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| Minnesota | Spring Park | A blue sphere with Smiley Faces painted on each side. Currently slated for destruction, replaced by a new water tower labeled with the town's name. More info at www.savethesmile.com. |  |
| Minnesota | Waite Park | Yellow with close-set Smile button eyes.
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| Nebraska | Axtell | Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: 1044 23 Rd., Axtell, NE [Show Map] Directions: Bethpage Mission, visible from Hwys 6 and 34. Take the main drag a couple blocks north. |
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| Nebraska | Gibbon | Smiley Face water tower reported. | |
| New Jersey | Longport | Not yellow, but light blue, facing Margate's Lucy the Elephant . We've seen this one a million times, but never get any closer than a grainy telephoto view from Lucy's howdah. Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: North 31st Street, Longport, NJ [Show Map] Directions: North 31st Street, NW of Atlantic Blvd. |
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| North Carolina | Raleigh | Owned by Carolina Crane Corp. and Southern Industrial Constructors.
The yellow water tower with the smiley face is next to the cranes behind
the building.
Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Raleigh, NC [Show Map] Directions: Triangle Drive off U.S. 70 near the airport |
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| North Dakota | Grand Forks | Silver cylinder with conical roof -- smile face art includes a small black bow tie. The water water tower was built in 1931, and the winking smile face was added in the 1970s. Reported in 2006 to be threatened with demolition, which optimistic townspeople are fighting.... Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Grand Forks, ND [Show Map] Directions: I-29 exit 140 east. Corner of S Washington and Demers, just north of 5th Avenue S.. Hours: Destined for demolition? |
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| Oklahoma | Moore | Water tower with a smiley face and the slogan: "Moore, The Friendly Place." Unconfirmed -- was this Smiley damaged or destroyed in the tornado that struck Moore in 1999? South of Oklahoma City, visible from I-35 on the left. |
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| South Carolina | Columbia | The City of Columbia's Water Treatment facility has a round blue water tank that has a Smiley painted with white paint. Visible from the I-77/126 bypass. |
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| South Dakota | Britton | The words "Welcome to Britton" on a yellow water
tower are in the shape of a smiley face.
Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Britton, SD [Show Map] Directions: The words "Welcome to Britton" on a yellow water tower are in the shape of a smiley face. |
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| Texas | Smithville | From US-71 near Smithville, take FM-153 East, the tower is 7 miles from the city limits, right at the fork of FM-2104 and FM-153. |  |
| Wisconsin | Eagle | A yellow water tower with smile face. (Craig
Thom snapped this image with his phone).
Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Eagle, WI [Show Map] Directions: Northwest side of the intersection of Hwys 67 and 59. |
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| Wisconsin | Oconto Falls | Smiley Face water tower. Last seen by the
Roadside Team in 1991.Reported in June 2006 as painted blue -- but the smile is back! Smiley Face Water Tower: Address: Oconto Falls, WI [Show Map] Directions: Around 25 miles north of Green Bay on US 141, then west five miles on Hwy 22. |
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Smiley Water Towers: The face that launched a thousand sips
