Water Tower & Pumping Station

Every time we have visitors, we end up in the city and inevitably gravitate towards the John Hancock Tower. Apart from the Cheesecake Factory and The Signature Lounge, I personally think it has the best views of the city. Sod the Sears Tower, it's too far inland, and you can't get cocktails with your views.

On the way to the Hancock tower, it is almost impossible and certainly undesirable to miss the Water Tower and Pumping Station. I always spout my little spiel about the facilities being built to resolve some water pollution problems due to the Chicago meat markets, in the mid 1800s. (as learned from the Lonely Planet guide many years ago). I also repeat my little knowledge about it being one of, if not the oldest buildings in Chicago, having survived the great fire in the late 1800s.

However I can never remember if it is still in use, and so this week when Marcus left, I decided to do a little research.

When Chicago was being established in the early 1800s, water was initially drawn from wells and later the Chicago River. Unfortunately as growth exploded, control of pollution was inadequate, and they needed to look for a better solution to get fresh water whilst they tackled the pollution issues in the longer term. They quickly moved through various solutions, including a pumping station that took water from 150 feet out into the lake, then another which moved 600 feet into the lake, but still this was insufficient.

The current buildings were finished in 1869 from huge limestone blocks, and look almost like a little castles. Work had started much earlier though in the mid 1850s to actually get the water supply from the lake, 2 miles out, from a new intake crib. The tower itself was built to accompany the main pumping station to help balance the pressure. In 1869, when the works were finished, the facility was capable of 18 million gallons a day! There is of course loads more detail for the story here.

The Chicago fire in 1871 a subject I will cover in some greater depth at a future juncture, tore a swathe of destruction through the city and two of the few buildings left standing were the pumping station and tower. It is rumoured that a guy working in the pumping station, I guess in an effort to ensure as much water was available for the fire as possible, he stayed there until it was too late, and then hanged himself rather than burn to death. Apparently his ghost has been seen many times, hanging from the rafters by tourists and locals alike.