Wizard's Blog

Yesterday I was watching an episode of Due South and I saw the Chicago Water Tower for the first time.

Image via Wikipedia

I have a thing for water towers – I used to love seeing them in England.  English water towers tend to be square and made out of brick or concrete, for example the Kimberley Water Tower in Nottinghamshire:

Kimberley Water Tower, Nottinghamshire

North American water towers however tend to be raised big metal spheres, which are aesthetically less interesting, for example the water tower in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada:

Red Deer Water Tower

The Chicago Water Tower seems different in that instead of just being designed to fullfill a purpose, it seems to have been designed aesthetically as well – it’s as ornate as a church.

Image by webbmb via Flickr

My wife wanted to know what I wanted to see while we were in the US, and I couldn’t really come up with anything. They don’t really have any history here, and natural wonders like the grand canyon seem like a lot of effort for a hole in the ground. I guess the Chicago Water Tower is the first thing to go on the list, but on its own is still not worth a trip.