Early 1930’s: Mussolini’s
Architects Study Jones Beach

Robert Moses wanted Jones Beach to surpass every other beach in the country, and his vision encompassed every aspect of the park. When the nation’s greatest architects submitted plans for the water tower required to supply fresh water, their conventional designs disappointed Moses. He wanted it to be a centerpiece and a symbol for the park, rather than its least attractive part. While visiting the beach, architect Harvey Wiley Corbett suggested building a structure that resembled an Italian church bell tower, or campanile. Moses immediately sketched the famous campanile of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, and it became the model for the landmark, 200-foot-tall Jones Beach water tower. According to Newsday, in the early 1930’s, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sent architects to study Jones Beach because he dreamed of creating a similar park on the Mediterranean or Adriatic Sea. The water tower is shown here in a 2004 photo.