When I was a kid, trips on I-69 to visit family in Fort Wayne were punctuated by three landmarks: the Long Line tower in Warren, the Long Line tower in Zanesville, and the water tower in Markle. It had a smiley face! I’d driven past countless times without stopping until a couple of weeks ago. I’d been on a bit of a water tower kick in my writing, and my brother nudged me to finally pull over and snap some photos.
Markle dates to 18361 and has a neat old downtown. I used to drive through the place on my way from Muncie to Fort Wayne when I took the slower, scenic route up to my apartment. The Pickle is always worth a stop for potatoes and subs! I’ve never paused to photograph the restaurant or Markle itself, but I did once manage to pull a freshwater drum from the Wabash where the river winds through.
Markle’s water tower is hard to miss. It’s big, it’s blue, and it greets you with two eyes, a button nose, dimpled cheeks, and the kind of happy smile that forces you to grin back. I’m ashamed that hours of research didn’t reveal when, exactly, the water tower was built, but aerial photos taken between 1971 and 1983 appear to put its construction within that timeframe.
Regardless of when it was erected, Markle’s smiley face water tower has been a landmark since I was old enough to notice it in about 1993. It sits just north of downtown, three-quarters of a mile east of I-69’s US-224 exit.
Indiana might have more smiley-faced water towers than you’d expect, at least if you expected more than one. Another stands about an hour’s drive north of Markle on I-69. The cheerful landmark rises above the town of Ashley and can be spotted near Exit 340 in Steuben County. I’ve never snapped a picture of the tower, but it’s bright yellow and even sports a bowtie! There used to be another one in the White County community of Monon, but its face has been painted over.
Water towers like Markle’s don’t just mark a place on a map. They leave an imprint on your memory! For me, Markle’s smile was always a signal that I was getting closer to friends and family in Fort Wayne. By finally stopping to snap a few photos, I’ve given those memories a firm frame. Maybe next time I’ll stop in town to see what it offers or cast another line into the Wabash. I’ll for sure return to the Pickle for another Chicken Club potato. By God, that was good! Either way, I know that Markle’s happy water tower will be smiling down on me as I stuff my face.
Sources Cited
1 Bash, F.S. (1914). History of Huntington County, Indiana. The Lewis Publishing Company [Chicago].
I always associate Markle with a very well developed swimming hole, which I assume was formerly a gravel pit. It was a great family destination when I was a kid, but I have no idea if it’s still a thing.
It is!
I’ve taken to photographing water towers on various trips to Kansas towns… I’ve found no smiley faces yet, but I’ll have to keep a look out for them.
For some reason, I’ve always pegged Kansas as a good state for water tower spotting!