Chicago Water Tower

The Chicago Water Tower stands out with its pale yellow Joliet limestone walls and pointed Gothic arches, appearing like a miniature castle dropped onto Michigan Avenue. Built in eighteen sixty-nine to house a massive standpipe for fire suppression, it is one of the few buildings in the area to survive the Great Chicago Fire of eighteen seventy-one. When the flames reached the tower, the limestone cracked under the heat, yet the structure held, becoming a symbol of the city’s stubborn refusal to disappear.