Please Don't Quote Me By Caralee Aschenbrenner Look! Up in the sky. It's a silo. Look! Up in the sky. It's a lighthouse. Look! Up in the sky. It's a space shuttle launch. No...eh...er. Silhouetted against the skyline, the Lena water tower has many suggestions as to lifestyle. But it's a water tower so attractive that its no surprise that it's become the much-reproduced logo for that community. A drive by at the west end of Main Street, Lena, makes clear that the warmth of the stone base of the tower, topped by the pleasant glowing brick, it is nonetheless a masterpiece in masonry. Its height was achieved in the days before mechanical cranes or tall jibs to expedite the craftsmanship...100 feet above the earth. But, of course, it took a number of years to rise at all.

Lena began years before the water works system was accomplished in 1896, nearly sixty years before; as a matter of fact. That was when John Garner and family hauled up at a spot called "Alida". It was so satisfactory, though wilderness, he wrote his son-in-law, Samuel Dodd, in Kentucky to come join them.

Dodd built a log cabin and named it the "Buckhorn Inn," a stop on the Galena-Chicago stage road of Frink and Walker's company. Traffic was so steady that in 1848 Dodd built a fourteen room limestone inn which still stands, true to the compass points, though the streets and railroads aren't!

During that time the name "Terre haute" was applied to the settlement because "Alida" had already been chosen by a community elsewhere in Illinois. And because the heights of the Northwest state were figuratively, at least, Upstate it seemed appropriate to be Terre haute. As the Illinois Central Railroad speared its way across the top of Illinois, however, Lena took over as a place identity, named, it is believed, for a daughter of an attorney of the IC. It took hold.

Surveying for the east/west branch of the state-long Illinois Central was completed to Lena in 1852, the line running quite near the Buckhorn Inn, where with the depot was the nuclei of the growing settlement. They attracted the essential trades and businesses of the day. By 1854 the railroad had extended to Galena which assured Lena be a permanent place in the lexicon of the Northwest.

Like all settlements in their earliest day, Lena had a town pump for the accommodation of residents and passers-by. A recent item about Milledgeville mentions how its town pump was a landmark eventually paved over by progress. Lena's, too, was long the exemplification of a water system. It was centrally located track side, because the railroad pierced the heart of the community and there became NORTH railroad Street and SOUTH Railroad Street, now Main. It was located where the present day "Coffee House Restaurant" stands, a former bank, quite noticeable. (Note: They have potato pancakes for breakfast on Thursdays!!)

Eventually, the town pump was enclosed by the Town's bandstand where, besides having a handy cup of water you could listen to the concerts presented by the Lena Imperial Band.

That hand-pumped fixture was over a forty-four foot well only so was not especially adequate to quell a fire should one occur. For years, or course, there were only wooden frame buildings, commercial or residential, so fire was a dreaded prospect.

A fire department was organized in 1869 with a bucket brigade the most efficient way of putting out fires. (Those were leather buckets those days.) By 1874 it was decided by the town council that four cisterns would be dug, each to hold 600 barrels of rainwater. In 1879 two more cisterns were added, those about town at various intersections per tradition, and by then it was discovered that two were spring-fed which eased the dependence on rainwater. Those cisterns' water was pumped to the others.

Fire equipment then was of the hand-pumped variety...a "cart" carrying hose was drawn by volunteers to the fire, the hose dropped into the water source and pumped by the men using the handles on each side of the apparatus. A water tank was also run to the scene but its supply was minimal and had to be refilled often. The men pumping lasted only about fifteen minutes before having to be spelled.

Fifteen years after the department's organization, the town council recognized that the "modern day" had arrived and they should improve their water works from town pumps and cisterns to a water tower where copious gallons of water could be stored for emergencies AND for use in homes and commercial places so they didn't have to rely on their own wells and cisterns...water from a tap. How wonderful, you'd imagine everyone would say. But no. There grew an "anti-water works" faction that became quite vocal in argument against an unsightly water tower looming overhead. They'd meet at the Opera House to disclaim any positive aspects of the idea so for awhile a modern water works became a dubious proposition. In spring 1895, however, the town council voted to borrow $8,000 to hire the US Wind Engine and Pump Co., Batavia, Illinois to construct a water system. Work began almost immediately.

Extra men and equipment were brought in to assist when the drill bit stuck at 400 feet. Delays of short duration were the norm but a heavy work schedule ensued throughout the autumn and early winter. The laying of the limestone foundation continued despite the cold weather.

Christmas morning, 1895, there was an ominous rumble. Some thought the world was at its end so thunderous it was. An earthquake? No! The weather had warmed up enough to thaw the moisture in the mortar holding together the limestone in the water tower so they gave 'way causing the stones to tumble to the ground. What a terrible, costly occurrence. The "anti-water-works" faction sneered, "We told you so!"

It wasn't until spring of 1896 that a new company arrived in Lena to clean up the debris and start over on a new site nearby. One hundred barrels of the very best Portland cement was prominently on view!

By the end of July, 1896 thirty-five feet of the limestone base had been completed with fifteen more to go; then the brick portion would be added, another forty feet. Smokestack, engine and boiler were fixed in place. Caps had to be waited on top the pilasters bracing the wall. A few days delay but then the crew did not work a Saturday in August because they took time off to go to Freeport to see the "Buffalo Bill Wild West" show, the most popular entertainment of the day.

A tank was to be built atop the foundation, three inch cypress, on a framework of iron beams. Meanwhile, mains, pipes, other appurtenances were being dug around town so water would be carried to those waiting with faucets open. What a convenience. Rates were published, broadly inclusive of all types of usage: Banks, $5; Private bathtubs, $2; Public baths, $5; Barbershops, $5; Blacksmiths, $3; one fire, $1; each additional; Butchers, $6; Churches, $4; Drug stores with soda fountains, $8; Dwelling houses four rooms, one spigot, $4; each additional room $0.50, each additional spigot, $1; Livery stables including carriage washing, $15.

As in all progress and development, glitches occurred, technology and mechanical hitches were bound to happen. They were taken care of as time passed and before one knew it, water piped in had become a necessity, not a luxury. And we guess the "anti-water works" faction subscribed to the water system, too!!

An electric and power plant had been added on to the water works building. In 1909 and 1911, two factories used the "waste stream" from the power plant for their needs...a corn and pumpkin evaporating factory and a casket works. Steam was piped under ground. The power generator produced enough electricity to also supply Lanark and Monroe, Wisconsin. Utilities were quickly becoming a household expense. By 1912 the town's oldest landmark, the Town Pump, was exposed when the bandstand and platform were removed from above it. After it was razed, a cement cover was placed over the pump in May of 1913, concealing its once vital presence and what it had meant to the community. Another landmark omitted. But the water tower took its place.

We knew the Automobile Age had arrived when an ordinance was passed in 1914 to assess a tax of $1.50 of all auto owners who washed cars in 'appropriate seasons'. No one was allowed to wash out-of-town automobiles.

Three wooden tanks, meanwhile, had been reservoir on the tower; two cypress, one redwood. In 1984 a steel tank was hoisted, full blown, onto the top by crane. Many changes have occurred through the years, many of the important ones listed in a small pamphlet published in 1996 at the Centennial for the Lena water tower. Even the most seemingly prosaic item should be commemorated for its basic importance as Lena did. It is a vital feature of a quaint design. The information had been gleaned from the "Lena Star" and its fascinating reading, liberally illustrated with photos of the times; construction and maintenance. Congratulations and thanks for preserving such a fine landmark.

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