Lena Water Tower

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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.