A fun little building housing the 1924 well pump for the Hinsdale Well No. 2, on display near the Village Hall. Make sure you look in through the windows to see the old water pump on display.
The sign in front reads:
"Hinsdale Well Number 2
Drilled 1924"
The Village of Hinsdale is a suburb of the City of Chicago, located 20 miles west of Chicago in Cook and DuPage Counties. (
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Incorporated in 1873, the Village relied on 9 water wells to serve its citizens, including this waymarked well, Well No. 2, which was drilled in 1924.
Blasterz think these old village wells were taken out of primary water service around 1992, when the DuPage Water Commission (DWC) turned the taps on to send cheap Lake Michigan water to Chicago's growing western suburbs in DuPage County, a project that had been in the works for nearly 50 years.
From the DuPage Water Commission Website (
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"History
In one respect, DuPage County, located just west of Chicago in northeastern Illinois, is typical of many areas near large urban centers; much of the land originally destined for farming, was developed instead for residential and commercial purposes. As this happened in DuPage, an attractive area with rustic appeal, the population grew steadily to a total of 904,000 by 2000.
By the mid-1950s, it had become obvious to many that the water necessary to supply this growing county, which came from deep and shallow wells, was being depleted faster than nature could replenish it. Furthermore, the quality of the ground water did not always meet regulatory standards. Municipalities in the county, realizing that they resided only 20 miles from one of the country’s greatest natural resources, began investigating the feasibility of obtaining Lake Michigan water for DuPage County.
In 1955, the Tree Towns Commission was formed to oversee the creation of a system that would supply Elmhurst, Lombard and Villa Park with Lake Michigan water. The existence of short term ground water supply sources in DuPage, and resistance to the withdrawal of lake water, hindered progress for more than 20 years. However, requests to state and federal bodies for alternative, dependable water resources continued, and ultimately led to the formation of the DuPage Water Commission. Finally, in 1980, the State of Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Water Resources, (the regulatory body responsible for control of Lake Michigan’s water use), granted many of the county’s municipalities an allocation of lake water.
In March of 1984, the Commission signed a 40-year agreement to buy water from the City of Chicago for redistribution in DuPage County. The Water Commission Act of 1985 gave the Commission the authority to finance, design, construct and operate a Lake Michigan-to-DuPage County water supply system.
In 1986, the Commission entered into “wholesale” Water Purchase Agreements with 23 DuPage County municipalities, and began the construction of the second largest water supply system in the State of Illinois. The Commission finally went into full operation on May 1, 1992."
In 2020 the Village of Hinsdale published a pamphlet, "VILLAGE OF HINSDALE Public Services Department Consumer Confidence Report 2020," parts of which reads as follows:
"The Source Of Your Water
The City of Chicago utilizes Lake Michigan as its source water via two water treatment plants. The Jardine Water Purification Plant serves the northern areas of the City and Suburbs, while the South Water Purification Plant serves the southern areas of the City and Suburbs. Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that is entirely contained
within the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and is the second largest Great Lake by volume with 1,180 cubic miles of water and third largest by area.
Lake Michigan water is purchased by the DuPage Water Commission (DWC) from the City of Chicago via the Lexington St. Pumping Station for distribution to the DWC 28 member communities and private utilities
covering DuPage County. Each member purchases its water from the DWC for distribution to their customers."
Through the magic of Google, Blasterz were able to find a 1962 Illinois state report on the Groundwater Resources of DuPage County. The waymarked well is mentioned in Appendix A, on on pages 91 and 100: (
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[page 91]
APPENDIX A
SELECTED WELL RECORDS
Well Number 38N11E-1.3al
Well Name: Hinsdale City Well #2
Year Drilled: 1924
Surface elevation (ft. ASL): 690
Depth: 268 ft
Deepest formation reached: Maq
Main Aquifer: Sil Dol
Type of record: SS 766 DL
Use: P (for public)
[page 100]
Village of Hinsdale
Depth of well: 273 ft
Casing diameter: 20 in
Surface Elevation ASL: 686 ft
Depth to Water: 67 ft
Water level elevation ASL: 619 ft ASL
Date of Measurement 1960: 6-9
Remarks: Hinsdale Village Well No. 2