In the mid-nineteenth century, Chicago was one of
America's fastest growing cities. Lake Michigan provided a plentiful and
easily accessible supply of fresh water. But the city dumped its sewage
into the Chicago River, and since the river ran into the lake, the water
supply near shore grew increasingly contaminated. Pipes that drew water
from 150 feet offshore and even 600 feet out into the lake proved
inadequate by the 1850s, when spring rains carrying pollution from
Chicago's sewers, distilleries, and slaughterhouses contaminated the water
supply.
Ellis S. Chesbrough solved the problem in 1863 by
designing a tunnel under the lake that would bring fresh water from two
miles offshore. The tunnel was to be 5 feet wide and lined with brick, and
would extend through the clay bed of Lake Michigan to a distance of 10,567
feet. Work started in 1864, and was far enough along by 1867 that this
pamphlet could give a detailed description of the progress. A notable
feature of the plan was the Two-Mile Crib, a mammoth timber intake
structure launched in 1865 and placed in clean, deep waters on top of the
lake-end of the tunnel. It is shown here in cross section, along with the
tunnel under the lake.
