Hofmann Tower and Dam

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The following information is from a sign posted at the site.

This site on the Des Plaines River was a natural dam known as Riverside Ford. But a man-made dam was constructed as early as the late 1820s for the Riverside Milling Company. (Note that was back when Chicago was just a trading post and taverns.)

In 1907 brewer George Hofmann, Jr., acquired the dam and surrounding property. Shortly after purchasing the site Hofmann began improving the dam and developing the adjacent grounds to create an amusement complex called Niagara Park. Hofmann hired the H.W. Sauber Construction Company to build a tower inspired by one at Dellwood Park in Lockport, Illinois. Hofmann replaced the earlier mill dam with a horseshoe-shaped dam of concrete.

The Hofmann dam has created an intermittent sanitation problem since about 1908 by constricting the river's flow and catching sewage and sediment. Changes were made in 1928 and 1936 but sanitation and pollution persisted. In 1950, the State of Illinois replaced the curved dam with a straight dam a short distance downstream. The Tower was not affected and by 1978 the tower had Historic Landmark designations by the village, state, and nation.

Birds-Eye View

Pollution and the degradation of aquatic habitat in the Des Plaines River prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to propose removal of the 1950 dam as part of an aquatic ecosystem restoration project in 2003. After consultation with various agencies, it was determined that dam removal would have an adverse effect on historic properties; therefore the Corps just documented their findings.

(End of information from the sign.)


The tower was closed when I visited. It wasn't clear if they have any open hours. (Illinois is the land of dysfunctional budgets.)

Evidently they decided that if they left the edges of the dam, there would not be an impact on the historic properties, and they opened up the middle of the channel. In the following closeup, you can see a brown staining on the wall where the water used to flow.

A Google Photo confirms the dam was a rolling dam (drowning machine), which was typical of Illinois State dam designs back in the 1950s. Although there must be a lot of debis at the base of the dam because the main water boils are at the face of the dam rather than a couple of feet down stream. I have to admit that in some ways Bing's "streetview" is better than mine, and it lets you pan and zoom as well as transition to a satellite view. The 1938 photo shows the dam was curved.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Update:

David Witter posted
You can live in the area forever and still find interesting places like this weird castle like structure: The Hoffman Tower, located in Lyons/Riverside and the Des Plaines River was built in 1908 by beer baron George Hoffman. Originally a power plant, it was the tallest local structure outside of the Chicago city limits. Once a tourist attraction its stairs and upper floors deteriorated and became homes for birds and rodents. In the 1980's it began to be somewhat restored and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

MWRD posted
A view of the Des Plaines River and Hofmann Tower in Lyons on September 16, 1919.
[Unfortunately, an upstream view of dams are not as interesting as interesting as a downstream view.]
MWRD posted, same comment

Fortunately, MWRD has posted a downstream view.

MWRD posted
A view of the Des Plaines River and Hofmann Tower in Lyons on May 5, 1919.
Dennis DeBruler The hydraulic jump caused by the "rolling dam" design is quite visible. That jump causes water at the surface to flow back towards the face of the dam. People have been caught in that circle of water and have been drowned. Even some rescuers have been killed by this type of dam.

(This photo was supposed to be near the top. But a Google bug put it here. Instead of wasting my time working around a bug that I reported weeks ago, I leave the photo here as a monument to Google's bug.)
MWRD posted
A view of the the Hofmann Tower and the Des Plaines River between Riverside and Lyons, Illinois, on September 16, 1919.