Unique Properties - National Fire Prevention Month - Chicago Water Tower

In honor of National Fire Prevention Month, we decided to highlight unique properties that are also related to fire and fire-safety. Today we are featuring the Chicago Water Tower. What, you ask, does this property have to do with Fire Prevention Month and why is it unique?

Well, the Tower is the only public structure to survive the Great Chicago Fire. According to Wikipedia, while some incorrectly believe that the tower was the only building to survive the fire, a few other buildings in the burned district survived along with the tower. But the water tower was the only public building in the burned zone to survive, and is the only one of the surviving structures still standing. In the years since the fire, the tower has become a symbol of old Chicago and of the city's recovery from the fire. In 1918, when Pine Street was widened, the plans were altered in order to give the Water Tower a featured location. It was built in 1869 by architect William W. Boyington.