Water Tower and Well House | Andalusia
The Water Tower used to provide water to the Main House and the farm. Water was drawn from the nearby well and stored in the Water Tower and gravity would force the water down through underground copper pipes. The farm was wired for electricity in the 1940s and a pump was installed at the top of the well. The farm’s water supply was then stored in a pressurized tank next to the Well House. Inside the Well House, visitors can peer down into Andalusia’s 30-foot deep, brick-lined, hand-dug well.
Though the Water Tower was no longer in use, it remained a landmark feature of Andalusia and Flannery took inspiration from it. A white water tower is featured in her short story “A Circle in the Fire” and a well much like the one in Well House figures prominently in the final scenes of Flannery’s second novel, The Violent Bear It Away.
The restoration of the water tower was completed in 2006 and was primarily funded by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division, the City of Milledgeville, and the Knight Fund for Milledgeville.
The restoration of the Well House was completed in 2008 and was primarily funded by the Watson-Brown Foundation Junior Board of Trustees, Milledgeville Chapter.
Additional support for both projects came from generous donations from the Friends of Andalusia and donations given in memory of Robert W. Mann and Catherine Florencourt Firth.