The Riverside Improvement Company sunk a well and built a 108-foot water tower designed by William LeBaron Jenney by 1870. The tower was rebuilt in the 1910s after a fire. It was designated an American Water Landmark in 1972 by the American Waterworks Association. Water from a nearby artesian well was pumped to area houses, making indoor plumbing possible well outside the bounds of the City of Chicago's water system. Riverside residents soon organized a suburban government to supervise, maintain and extend this water system.

Photographer: John McCarthy
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-17221)