Kyabram’s Virginia Red Brick Water Tower stands as a reminder of the pivotal role the Albion Street site played in the establishment of a water supply to the town.

It was the first major building constructed on the site, in 1890, by Geelong firm Humble and Nicholson and is one of two towers that have been used to deliver water to Kyabram homes, business and industry.

Built alongside two storage dams and Kyabram’s first electric pumping plant it was eventually replaced by a 33.5 metre tall-100,000 gallon concrete water tank in 1928.

A third major re-development of the site, in 1997, saw the addition of the water storage tank and significantly updated filtration system.

In 2021 that tank became the canvas for the spectacular native mural that has drawn thousands of people to the old railway station viewing platform.

Its creation has seen renewed interest in the site following a partnership between the Kyabram Project Committee and Goulburn Valley Water.

The Virginia brick tower that stands alongside the mural originally serviced steam locomotives, drawing water from the nearby dams into a 40,000 gallon tank on top of the tower, before eventually being connected to reticulated piping to provide the town with its water supply. The original tank has since been removed.

The tower is one of only a handful of railway towers that remain in the state. Each level of the tower is marked with a string mould and the upper supporting structure has a cornice-like rim and a basalt coping base which once supported a wrought-iron chequered holding tank.

Its arched windows are supported by basalt sills, aligned with the entry door. There are no internal staircases or floors.

It was not until a decade after its construction that the tower became responsible for the delivery of the town’s first source of reticulated water, when Kyabram Urban Water Trust purchased the waterworks plant and land for 1650 pounds in 1906.