Documentary History of American Water-works

Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Illinois

Hyde Park was incorporated as a village in 1872 and was annexed to the city of Chicago on July 15, 1889.

The village contracted to build a water works in 1873 and allowed the neighboring Town of Lake to participate by owning half of the pumping station. The jointly-owned Holly water works plant was demonstrated on September 2, 1874 using a steam-driven Holly Quadruplex pump.

Water demand outgrew the capacity of the plant and in 1881 Hyde Park sold its half of the plant to the Town of Lake for $48,000 and built a new pumping station on an adjacent parcel. This new plant began service on August 1, 1882 and in 1889 was acquired by the city of Chicago through annexation. The plant was enlarged to provide water to the 1893 Columbian Exposition.and was electrified in the early 1920s. The plant, now known as the 68th Avenue Pumping Station at 6801 S. Oglesby Avenue continues to provide water service to Chicago.

Water is provided by the city of Chicago.

A View of Hyde Park Water Works, from History of Cook County, Illinois: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, by Alfred Theodore Andreas (1884), Page 517

References
1873 "Hyde Park Water Works," The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 15, 1873, Page 5.
Request for proposals.

1873 "Hyde Park," The Chicago Daily Tribune, August 18, 1873, Page 7.
Holly Water-Works Contracted.

1873 Review of the minority report of the Hyde Park (Ill.) Committee on Water Works, by T. T. Flagler, August 30, 1873
"Errors exposed and Holly machinery vindicated.

1874 "Hyde Park," The Chicago Daily Tribune, January 29, 1874, Page 4.
Our High-Toned Suburb Joins Lake in the Water Works Scheme.

1874 "Lake," The Chicago Daily Tribune, February 6, 1874, Page 3.
Water-works agreement with Hyde Park.

1874 "Hyde Park," The Chicago Daily Tribune, August 30, 1874, Page 4.
The public test of the Holly Water-Works is arranged to be made Wednesday, September 2, and the following is the agreement made.
The Hyde Park Water-Works are located near the lake shore, on Sixty-eighty street.
Since the contract was first made by the Village of Hyde Park the Town of Lake has been admitted to an equal partnership in the works.

1874 "Hyde Park," The Chicago Daily Tribune, September 3, 1874, Page 8.
Satisfactory Trial of the New Water-Works.

1877 "Hyde Park Water Works," The Chicago Daily Tribune, March 17, 1877, Page 3.
The Hyde Park Water-Works Lot to be sold under foreclosure.

1877 "Hyde Park Water Works," The Chicago Daily Tribune, June 20, 1877, Page 7. | Part 2 |

1880 "The Hyde Park Water Works," The Chicago Daily Tribune, June 18, 1880, Page 8.
Joint meeting to discuss expansion of the system.

1881 The Chicago Daily Tribune, January 21, 1881, Page 8.
The Joint Board of Hyde Park and Lake met and approved contract to sell the Hyde Park Water-Works to the Town of Lake.

1882 "Hyde Park," The Chicago Daily Tribune, January 2, 1882, Page 8.
Conflict between Lake and Hyde Park over water works. Contract signed January 31, 1881 allows both to run plant until new Hyde Park plant is built.

1882 "Town of Lake," from Engineering News 9:114 (April 8, 1882)

1882 "Pullman," The Chicago Daily Tribune, June 29, 1882, Page 8.
Contract between the Village of Hyde Park and the Pullman Company for the water supply at Pullman was yesterday completed.

1882 "Hyde Park and Lake," The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 14, 1882, Page 9.
Agreement to share water when required.

1882 Hyde Park from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.

1882 Hyde Park water works 1882-83 Map

1884 "A Disaster Costing Nine Lives," The New York Times, October 9, 1884, Page 1.
A water works crib swept away near Chicago -- Nine men drowned.

1884 History of Cook County, Illinois: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, by Alfred Theodore Andreas
Page 517-519: Hyde Park Water Works

1887 Municipal code of the Village of Hyde Park :

1888 "Hyde Park," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1888 "Pullman," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1892 "Notes from the Great Fair," Scientific American, 67:343 (December 3, 1892)

1892 "World’s Fair Water Supply," Fire and Water Engineering 12(27): December 31, 1892, Page

1895 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Volume 16
Sheet 86 shows Town of Lake Water Works adjacent to Hyde Park Water Works.

1909 History of Cook County, Illinois--: Being a General Survey of Cook County History, Including a Condensed History of Chicago and Special Account of Districts Outside the City Limits; from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Volume 2, edited by Weston Arthur Goodspeed and Daniel David Healy
Page 306: Among the important improvements were the Hyde Park water works and the fire department.

2008 "Annexations and Additions to the City of Chicago," from Encyclopedia of Chicago. Shows boundaries of Hyde Park.