The tower, built of yellowish limestone on North Michigan Avenue in 1869, is one of the few buildings in Chicago to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Architect William W. Boyington was commissioned to integrate the city's central drinking water pumping station into a building as inconspicuously as possible. The result was a tower in the style of British Neo-Gothic (English Gothic revival). However, Boyington had adapted the style quite excessively, which caused criticism at the time. Oscar Wilde called the creation a castellated monstrosity with pepper-boxes stuck all over it. The architecture is said to have inspired the design of some White Castle fast food restaurants.
The Chicago Water Tower is one of the oldest buildings in the city. The pump house now houses a gallery and visitor center for the Chicago Office of Tourism. The Chicago Water Tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Contributing Property of a Historic District on April 23, 1975. Together with the Pump House and Fire Station 98, it forms the Old Chicago Water Tower District.
(wikipedia)