The need for a water tower in Lena was the topic of newspaper editorials many years before the current structure was actually built in 1896 . In the early 1870s fires struck a stable , a warehouse , a rural school and several houses in and around Lena . The 1871 Great Chicago Fire induced a sense of panic among many Illinoisians , including those in the village of Lena . In 1874 fire nearly destroyed the freight house and depot owned by the Illinois Central Railroad in Lena . The fires continued through the 1870s and 1880s and the '' Lena Star '' editorials led the crusade to build a water tower
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Lena Water Tower