‘It’s the only one of its kind in the world’: The story behind a 153-foot historic tower in Scituate

Visitors can view the full moon from the top this fall.

Visitors in Scituate can climb a 153-foot tower constructed more than a century ago in the name of love and peer up at the full moon.

The 1902 Lawson Tower, on the National Registry of Historic Places, looks like something out of a Rapunzel story, but instead was businessman Thomas W. Lawson’s answer to an unsightly water tank his beloved wife did not favor near her new home.

“It’s the only one of its kind in the world,” said Robert Chessia, acting president and chairman of the board of trustees of the Scituate Historical Society, which maintains the tower.

The town of Scituate bought the tower from Lawson in 1923 and the tank was drained in 1988 when the Scituate Water Company stopped using it.

Visitors who climb the 123 steps to the top are treated to a bird’s eye view of Scituate, including Scituate Light, as well as Boston, the North River, and beyond, he said.

“If you know where to look, you can just barely with the naked eye see the tower at Provincetown,” he said, referring to the Pilgrim Monument.

Lawson, a Charlestown native, was one of the wealthiest people in America during the turn of the 20th century, Chessia said, and often rented summer homes on the South Shore. One day Lawson and his wife Jeannie took a horse and carriage ride through Scituate.

“His wife said, ‘What a beautiful place for a farm.’ Well, he went out right away and bought 350 acres and built this estate for her,” Chessia said.

The Lawsons would come to own nearly 1,000 acres and built an elaborate summer home there called Dreamwold.

“He had a racing stable that was 800 feet long for his racing horses,” Chessia said. “He had around 200 horses at one time, 200 dogs — his favorite dogs were bulldogs — and 3,000 birds, sheep, cows, a bear, a monkey.”

As their home took shape, one thing didn’t sit well with Jeannie — the steel water tank nearby.

“She told her husband to do something about it,” Chessia said.

So Lawson sent his architect to Europe to research designs and was inspired by a 15th century watch tower by the Rhine River. Lawson received permission to enclose the water tank and paid $60,000 to build the tower, Chessia said. It was built by Irish immigrant Charles Logue, who also built Boston’s iconic Fenway Park.

Lawson also added something extra to the tower — bells.

“He put 10 bells up there you can play music with or they strike the hour or they play the chimes in the morning and at night,” Chessia said. “This was all to keep [his wife] happy.”

The bells, commissioned from the Meneely Bell Company in Troy, N.Y., range in size from 300 to 3,000 pounds and are played from a ground level console room, according to the society. In 2021, Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall played the bells while visiting the seaside town. Scituate has been named the most Irish town in America and Lawson Tower is part of the South Shore Irish Heritage Trail.

Jeannie was in poor health and passed away in 1906, just four years after the tower was constructed, Chessia said, and a heartbroken Lawson never remarried. The couple had six children.

Lawson had a “long and at times tempestuous career,” according to the society. He authored the 1906 book “Frenzied Finance: The Crime of Amalgamated,” and is called notorious for his stock manipulations. He died “nearly penniless” in 1925 and the estate was sold off to pay his debts, according to the society.

The public can enter the tower five times a year during scheduled open houses for $3 per person. The final open house of the year is on Sept. 15.

Visitors can also visit the tower during “Trips to the Top” for a viewing of the full moon. The remaining dates for this special event are Sept. 19, Oct. 17, Nov. 16, and Dec. 15 and the cost is $10. Members of the Scituate Historical Society share the history of the tower while members of the South Shore Astronomical Society offer telescopes for viewing. Registration is required.

For a chance to hear the tower’s bells, visitors can attend two remaining free concerts by society chimer Lenae Badger taking place this year at the base of the tower, on Oct. 27 and Dec. 22.