Lena Water Tower

Last updated
Lena Water Tower
Lena Water Tower16.JPG
Location Lena, Stephenson County, Illinois, USA
Coordinates 42°22′51″N89°49′37″W / 42.38083°N 89.82694°W / 42.38083; -89.82694 Coordinates: 42°22′51″N89°49′37″W / 42.38083°N 89.82694°W / 42.38083; -89.82694
Area <1 acre (0.4 ha)
Built 1896
NRHP reference # 97000034
Added to NRHP February 20, 1997

The Lena Water Tower is a water tower located in the village of Lena, Illinois, United States. It was built in 1896 following two decades of problems with structure fires in the village. The current water tower is the result of a second attempt after the first structure proved to be unstable. The tower stands 122.5 feet (37.3  m ) tall and is built of limestone and red brick. The current stainless steel water tank holds 50,000 gallons (190,000 liters) and replaced the original wooden tank in 1984. The site has two other structures, an old power plant building and a 100,000 US gallon (380,000 l) reservoir. The Lena Electric Plant Building was constructed in 1905 and the reservoir completed in 1907. The Lena Water Tower was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1997; the reservoir was included as a contributing property to the listing.

Water tower elevated structure supporting a water tank

A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system for the distribution of potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. In some places, the term standpipe is used interchangeably to refer to a water tower. Water towers often operate in conjunction with underground or surface service reservoirs, which store treated water close to where it will be used. Other types of water towers may only store raw (non-potable) water for fire protection or industrial purposes, and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply.

Lena, Illinois Village in Illinois, United States

Lena is a village in Stephenson County, Illinois. The population was 2,912 at the 2010 census.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Contents

History

The need for a water tower in Lena was the topic of newspaper editorials many years before the current structure was actually built in 1896. [1] In the early 1870s fires struck a stable, a warehouse, a rural school and several houses in and around Lena. The 1871 Great Chicago Fire induced a sense of panic among many Illinoisians, including those in the village of Lena. [1] In 1874 fire nearly destroyed the freight house and depot owned by the Illinois Central Railroad in Lena. The fires continued through the 1870s and 1880s and the Lena Star editorials led the crusade to build a water tower. [1]

Structure fire fire involving the structural components of a building

A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various types of residential, commercial or industrial buildings, such as barn fires. Residential buildings range from single-family detached homes and townhouses to apartments and tower blocks, or various commercial buildings ranging from offices to shopping malls. This is in contrast to "room and contents" fires, chimney fires, vehicle fires, wildfires or other outdoor fires.

Great Chicago Fire city fire

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago from October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of the city, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire began in a neighborhood southwest of the city center. A long period of hot, dry, windy conditions, and the wooden construction prevalent in the city led to a conflagration. The fire leapt the south branch of the Chicago River and destroyed much of central Chicago, and then leapt the main branch of the river consuming the near north side.

Illinois Central Railroad transport company

The Illinois Central Railroad, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa (1870). There was a significant branch to Omaha, Nebraska (1899), west of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and another branch reaching Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1877), starting from Cherokee, Iowa. The Sioux Falls branch has been abandoned in its entirety.

The week of June 14, 1895 workers began drilling for the new reservoir and water tower. The drill reached 400 feet (121.9 m) in depth and became stuck. It was not freed until October 1895 and work crews were forced to work double shifts to compensate. The tower structure itself began rising by early November when disaster struck the project. As a rock was being hoisted up the tower it crashed to the ground ripping through the first two floors of the structure. [1] When a winter thaw hit the area on December 25 the mortar on the building began to crumble; the unseasonable thaw had weakened poorly mixed mortar. [1] Citizens were outraged and blamed the newspaper for pushing the tower so furiously. The paper, in turn, blamed the faulty work of the contractor; the foundation was not large enough to support the mass of the tower structure. [1]

Reservoir A storage space for fluids

A reservoir is, most commonly, an enlarged natural or artificial lake, pond or impoundment created using a dam or lock to store water.

Mortar (masonry) workable paste used to bind building blocks

Mortar is a workable paste used to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete masonry units, fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, and sometimes add decorative colors or patterns in masonry walls. In its broadest sense mortar includes pitch, asphalt, and soft mud or clay, such as used between mud bricks. Mortar comes from Latin mortarium meaning crushed.

In June 1896 village trustees voted to hire U.S. Wind, Engine and Pump Company from Batavia, Illinois to demolish the unstable water tower and rebuild it with a properly founded structure. On June 19, 1896 the company arrived to demolish the old structure and begin laying a new foundation using Portland cement. [1] The tower had risen 35 feet (10.7 m) by July and by September the brick portion of the facade was completed at 100 feet (30.5 m). [1] By October 1896 the cypress water tank was installed atop the Lena Water Tower. [1]

Batavia, Illinois City in Illinois, United States

Batavia is a city in DuPage and Kane Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. During the latter part of the 19th century, Batavia, home to six American-style windmill manufacturing companies, became known as "The Windmill City." Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a federal government-sponsored high-energy physics laboratory, where both the bottom quark and the top quark were first detected, is located in the city.

Portland cement binder used as basic ingredient of concrete

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the mid 19th century, and usually originates from limestone. It is a fine powder, produced by heating limestone and clay minerals in a kiln to form clinker, grinding the clinker, and adding 2 to 3 percent of gypsum. Several types of Portland cement are available. The most common, called ordinary Portland cement (OPC), is grey, but white Portland cement is also available. Its name is derived from its similarity to Portland stone which was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. It was named by Joseph Aspdin who obtained a patent for it in 1824. However, his son William Aspdin is regarded as the inventor of "modern" Portland cement due to his developments in the 1840s.

Brick Block or a single unit of a ceramic material used in masonry construction

A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Traditionally, the term brick referred to a unit composed of clay, but it is now used to denote any rectangular units laid in mortar. A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand, and lime, or concrete materials. Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities. Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-fired bricks.

Design

Limestone clads the first 56 feet (17.1 m) while red brick rises another 44 feet (13.4 m). The stone buttresses rise 50 feet (15.2 m). Lena Il Lena Water Tower10.JPG
Limestone clads the first 56 feet (17.1 m) while red brick rises another 44 feet (13.4 m). The stone buttresses rise 50 feet (15.2 m).

The Lena Water Tower is situated on a triangular section of land in the village of Lena, Illinois, located in western Stephenson County approximately 38 miles (61 km) east of Galena, Illinois. It is 22 feet (6.7 m) wide at its base and rises to a height of 122.5 feet (37.3 m). [1] The first 56 feet (17.1 m) of the structure was constructed from limestone blocks, each block measures 24 inches (61  cm ) by 30 inches (76 cm). [1] Six stone buttresses flank the first 50 feet (15.2 m) of the water tower as well. [1] The 44 feet (13.4 m) beyond the limestone portion of the facade is faced in red brick. [1] The limestone was quarried east of the village.

Stephenson County, Illinois County in the United States

Stephenson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 47,711. Its county seat is Freeport.

Galena, Illinois City in Illinois, United States

Galena is the largest city in and the county seat of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, with a population of 3,429 at the 2010 census. A 581-acre (235 ha) section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Galena Historic District. The city is named for the mineral galena, which was mined by Native Americans in the area for over a thousand years. Owing to these deposits, Galena was the site of the first major mineral rush in the United States. By 1828, the population was estimated at 10,000, rivaling the population of Chicago at the time. The city emerged as the largest steamboat hub on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. Galena was the home of Ulysses S. Grant and eight other Civil War generals. Today, the city is a tourist destination known for its history, architecture, and resorts.

Limestone Sedimentary rocks made of calcium carbonate

Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolostone, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In fact, in old USGS publications, dolostone was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolostones or magnesium-rich limestones.

Atop the brick of the current Lena Water Tower is a stainless steel tank which is held in place only by the weight of the water inside. [1] The current tank replaced the old wooden water tank in 1984 and is painted black with "LENA" spelled out in large yellow letters across its face. The tank is 22.5 feet (6.9 m) tall and 18.6 feet (5.7 m) in diameter; it holds 50,000 gallons (189,271 l) of water and is ringed by a metal catwalk. [1]

Stainless steel steel alloy resistant to corrosion

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French inoxydable (inoxidizable), is a steel alloy, with highest percentage contents of iron, chromium, and nickel, with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content by mass and a maximum of 1.2% carbon by mass.

Water tank Container for storing water

A water tank is a container for storing water. Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications, drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemical manufacturing, food preparation as well as many other uses. Water tank parameters include the general design of the tank, and choice of construction materials, linings. Various materials are used for making a water tank: plastics, fiberglass, concrete, stone, steel. Earthen pots also function as water storages. Water tanks are an efficient way to help developing countries to store clean water.

Wood fibrous material from trees or other plants

Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or it is defined more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere such as in the roots of trees or shrubs. In a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber.

Other structures

Lena Electric Light Plant Building

The old Lena Electric Light Plant Building was constructed in 1905. Lena Il Lena Water Tower8.JPG
The old Lena Electric Light Plant Building was constructed in 1905.

There is one building on the Lena Water Tower site. The Electric Light Plant Building was constructed in 1905 by the Benfield Brothers for developer W.M. Arnold and it housed the Lena Electric Light Plant. [1] By 1920 the building had two additions; in 1912 a brick addition was added to the building's south elevation to house a steam engine and boiler, the 1920 addition was of brick and on the Electric Plant's north elevation. [1]

The hip roof is clad in asphalt shingles while the wooden soffits have been covered with aluminum, another of the alterations through the years. [1] The original structure featured doors and windows that have since been bricked over and altered. From east to west on the original south elevation was a 7.5 feet (2.29 m) by 10 feet (3.05 m) doorway, four windows, a doorway, another door, and two windows. [1] The north and west facades had two windows and the south elevation another large doorway. In 1978 Pierce Construction of Lena was hired to completely or partially brick over all doors and windows on the building. A new windowed, wooden door was installed in a new opening on the east facade of the Electric Plant. [1]

The building had two more additions in 1982. A red brick addition with an 18 feet (5.49 m) by 15 feet (4.57 m) garage door was added to the north elevation and a shed addition with a 9 feet (2.74 m) by 7 feet (2.13 m) garage door was added to the southeast elevation, both built in 1982. [1]

Reservoir

The on site reservoir was completed in 1907 and is connected to the old Electric Plant Building through two 15 feet (4.57 m) cast iron pipes. The 100,000 gallon (378,541 l) reservoir is constructed from concrete and features a roof of wood and metal. [1]

Significance

The Lena Water Tower has been in continuous service since it was built in 1896 and is the tallest structure in the village. [1] Its role in providing the citizens of Lena with water services beginning in 1896 is the primary reason the structure was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on February 20, 1997. [2] Included in the listing to the National Register was the reservoir, which was added as a contributing property. [1] The Electric Plant Building, however, was not included in the listing because of the large number of modern alterations it has undergone. [1] The Lena Water Tower is believed to be one of three in the state of Illinois designed and built of similar construction and has become a symbol of the village of Lena.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Welton, Sharon. "Lena Water Tower," (PDF), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 30 September 1996, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  2. ↑ National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
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