![]() ![]() ![]() Maybe I had been focused on going to a specific store in Water Tower Place, or just not looked in the right direction. One of the things, which I saw (how could I have missed this before?) was a stepped water feature, between the escalators, with interesting “tubes” of water between each level. While my wife was in meetings, I was tasked with picking up some makeup for her, and she knew that Macy’s carried this particular brand, so off to Water Tower Place I headed. On this visit, the weather was gloomy, cool, overcast with sporadic rain. It’s a great tale, but there’s no documented proof of a tragic suicide during the fire.We were back in Chicago in September, and once more staying at the Westin on Michigan Ave, just a block, or so, from the Water Tower Place shopping center, 835 N Michigan Ave on the Magnificent Mile, and anchored by a Macy’s. According to the popular myth, you can sometimes still see a shadowy hanging figure through the upstairs window. As the fire encroached, he reportedly hung himself from the top floor rather than be burned to death. One of the most infamous Chicago ghost stories is the one about the city worker who was manning the water pumps in the Tower during the Great Chicago Fire. The “hanging man” ghost story is a tall tale When the fast-food chain came to Chicago in 1928, the design of the first local store was a homage of the Water Tower. While in Chicago to give a lecture in 1882, Oscar Wilde famously referred to the ornate stone building as “a castellated monstrosity with pepper-boxes stuck all over it.” But the owners of White Castle had a much higher opinion. During the Great Fire, he covered the building in woolen blankets and discarded canvas sails soaked in lake water-protecting it from the cinders and flaming debris as the rest of the city burned. The Water Tower would likely not have survived without a firefighter named Frank Trautman, according to the Chicago Architecture Center. It was probably saved by a German immigrant fireman In addition, there were plenty of sections of Chicago on the West and South sides never touched by the fire. Michael’s Church in Old Town, and a police constable cottage at 2121 N. But that’s an exaggeration- four other structures in the neighborhood also survived the fire’s path, including the nearby Chicago Avenue Pumping Station, St. No, it wasn’t the only building to survive the Great Chicago FireĪs legend has it, the Water Tower was the only structure left standing after the city was ravaged by the Great Fire of 1871 and it quickly became a rallying point for Chicago’s ability to rise phoenix-like from the ashes. ![]() But in 1994, the National Parks Service measured the tower and found that it’s 182 feet, six inches to the tip of its spire. Search “Water Tower height” and it’s the first result that comes up. Historically, the Water Tower has been listed as 154-feet-tall in literature. ![]() The Water Tower is actually taller than listed Here are five facts you probably didn’t know about the Gothic revival style tower built in 1869 from Joliet limestone by architect William Boyington. Though it’s an iconic symbol representing the city’s post-Great Chicago Fire resilience, the Water Tower’s true history remains shrouded in mystery or misinformation. Michigan Avenue is set for Saturday, September 14 and more than 25 five-foot custom replicas are being temporarily installed along North Michigan Avenue. The Chicago Water Tower is turning 150 this month and the city is celebrating its sesquicentennial in style.Ī day-long festival at the Near North Side neighborhood around the 150-year-old structure at 806 N. ![]()
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