The Jones Beach Water Tower is one of Long Island’s most recognizable landmarks, but the structure nicknamed “The Pencil” is much more than a decorative monument at the entrance to Jones Beach State Park.
Built around the time Jones Beach opened, the tower was designed as both a major piece of park infrastructure and an architectural landmark. Inside is a massive steel tank that supplies fresh water throughout Jones Beach, while its distinctive Art Deco exterior was inspired by a much older landmark thousands of miles away.
Here’s what makes the Jones Beach Water Tower such an unusual piece of Long Island history.
Why is the Jones Beach Water Tower called “The Pencil”?
The nickname becomes pretty obvious once you look at the tower’s long, narrow profile and pointed roof.
Long Islanders have referred to the Jones Beach tower as “The Pencil” or “the pencil point,” but that familiar shape was actually inspired by one of the most famous structures in Venice.
The tower’s design draws from the campanile, or bell tower, of St. Mark’s Basilica in St. Mark’s Square.
That European influence was incorporated into a distinctly 20th-century Long Island landmark, with the Jones Beach tower also displaying the strong geometric lines associated with Art Deco architecture.
At the very top is a copper roof measuring about 32 feet high, creating the point that helps give the tower its pencil-like silhouette.
When was the Jones Beach Water Tower built?
The Jones Beach Water Tower dates to the original development of Jones Beach around 1930, meaning the structure is approaching a century as a centerpiece of the park.
It wasn’t designed simply as an attractive monument. The tower was built to combine architecture with the practical infrastructure needed to serve the enormous new state park.
That dual purpose remains one of its most interesting features today.
Is the Jones Beach Water Tower really a water tower?
Yes.
Behind the elaborate exterior is a massive steel water tank capable of holding more than 300,000 gallons of water.
The system supplies fresh water throughout the Jones Beach area, serving facilities that include:
- The beach and surrounding park facilities
- Restrooms and drinking fountains
- Swimming pools
- Jones Beach Theater
In other words, a structure that can look more like a monument than a utility installation actually performs one of the park’s most essential jobs.
How tall is the Jones Beach Water Tower?
The answer is surprisingly complicated.
The tower is commonly listed as standing about 188 feet tall, although some sources have placed its height at approximately 231 feet.
Either way, its location and distinctive pointed roof make the Jones Beach tower visible from a considerable distance.
And there is much more to the water system than what appears above ground. Infrastructure associated with the tower reportedly extends more than 1,000 feet underground.
What is the Jones Beach Water Tower made of?
The Jones Beach Water Tower was built using Ohio sandstone and Barbizon brick, according to Curbed New York.
Those materials give the structure much of its distinctive appearance while also providing the durability needed for a tower exposed to decades of coastal Long Island weather.
The 32-foot copper roof crowns the structure.
There’s another detail worth looking for: the seal of the State of New York is mounted on the tower facing toward the Wantagh State Parkway.
Can you go inside the Jones Beach Water Tower?
Despite its prominence at Jones Beach, the water tower is not open to the general public.
It remains working infrastructure rather than a public observation tower or historic attraction that visitors can tour.
So while generations of Long Islanders have seen the outside of “The Pencil,” the interior remains considerably less familiar.
The Jones Beach Water Tower underwent a $6.2 million restoration
Keeping a structure of this size and age in working condition takes considerable maintenance.
In 2010, the Jones Beach Water Tower underwent a major renovation costing approximately $6.2 million.
The project helped preserve both sides of the tower’s identity: its role as functioning park infrastructure and its status as one of the defining architectural features of Jones Beach.
A surprising connection to another Long Island home
There is also an unusual piece of local lore connected to the tower.
One Long Island home is said to have been constructed using original wood, brick and stone associated with the Jones Beach Water Tower.
It’s another reminder that the history surrounding Jones Beach extends well beyond the sand, boardwalk and parkways most closely associated with the park.
More than a Jones Beach monument
The Jones Beach Water Tower works because it manages to be two things at once.
It is a piece of infrastructure containing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and serving one of New York’s busiest state parks. At the same time, its Venetian-inspired design, Art Deco styling, copper roof and unmistakable silhouette turned a practical water system into one of Long Island’s most recognizable landmarks.
That’s why “The Pencil” has endured as much more than a water tower.
It is part of the visual identity of Jones Beach itself.
Like this story? Check out our Crazy Facts About Jones Beach Theater for more surprising history from one of Long Island’s most famous destinations.
Like this story? Click here to check out Crazy Facts About Jones Beach Theater!
Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
