When tourists visit Pisa, Italy, they usually prioritize visiting the famous leaning bell tower there. Likewise when tourists flock to Groom, Texas (population 574), they seek out the leaning water tower.
Atlas Obscura tells us about Ralph Britten, the owner of a truck stop along Route 66. In about 1980 (the date is uncertain) he bought an old water tower and had it erected next to his facility. He intentionally tilted it so that passerby would think that it was about to fall over:
This helped his business immeasurably. It would catch the eye of every passing motorist on the route for years, many of them becoming terrified that the tower was in the process of collapsing. This played right into Britten’s hand. Worried route-takers often swerved off the road and into his truck stop, shouting “watch out! That tower’s about to fall!” Britten responded that it had been like that for years, and then asked them to sit down and buy food and a drink.
Britten’s manipulation of the tower did, however, require sufficient knowledge of physics. If the water tower were completely empty or completely full, its center of mass would be directly in the middle of the can, making it topple when slanted. So Britten filled it only partially, so that the low level of water would place the can’s center of mass near its base, directly above the two supporting legs, keeping it aloft.
Photo: Steve Hardy