Lena Water Tower
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Lena Water Tower
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| Location | Lena, Stephenson County, Illinois, USA |
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| Coordinates | 42°22′51″N 89°49′37″W / 42.38083°N 89.82694°WCoordinates: 42°22′51″N 89°49′37″W / 42.38083°N 89.82694°W |
| 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.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
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