Water Works Museum
The McNeill Street Pumping Station is the home of the Shreveport Water Works Museum and has the rare distinction of being both a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Opened in 1887 as the city’s first water plant, it added filtration in 1890, an unusual technology at the time, and in 1911, was among the earliest facilities in the country to use chlorine in the treatment process. When the old steam pumps were finally retired in 1980, the plant was believed by the Smithsonian to be the last operating steam powered municipal water works in America. Today, the entire physical plant (pumps, filters and other machinery) remains in place after more than 100 years of service and is a rare example of an intact steam water works.
“the plant was believed by the Smithsonian to be the last operating steam powered municipal water works in America”
Museum visitors can walk through the site with a guided or self-guided tour and see the classic antique steam equipment and learn how water is purified both now and in yesteryear.
Free Admission
Museum Hours:
10a to 4p Tuesday through Saturday
12n to 4p Sunday