Shifting Grounds: The Earliest Years

In contrast to the laborers' salaries of $2 per day's work, the pay stub at the left shows pumping house engineer D.C. Cregier's salary for the month of March 1866 as $208.33.

DeWitt Clinton Cregier had already been the pumping house engineer for 13 years by this time. Beginning as the engineer at the original Chicago Avenue station in 1853, he remained at that job until 1879 when he became the City Engineer, and subsequently the Commissioner of Public Works, and then Chicago's Mayor.

In 1933, officials dedicated a bronze plaque in Cregier's honor on the historic Water Tower. It is still in place and reads,

This tablet is erected in recognition of the outstanding services to the City of Chicago given by DEWITT CLINTON CREGIER

ENGINEER OF CHICAGO AVE. PUMPING STATION 1853-1879
CITY ENGINEER 1879-1882
COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS 1882-1886
MAYOR OF CHICAGO 1889-1891

The Lake Tunnel The Two-Mile Crib Tunnel Stories & Documentation Tunnel Illustrations

This stereoview made during the 1860s construction of the tunnel shows the tracks that were laid and the vaulted brick construction. Donkeys were lowered into the tunnel to pull carts along the tracks. The man tucked into the cove at the right is covering his eyes against the effect of the photographer's bright magnesium flash. When inserted into a stereo viewer, these double-lensed images appear as a single three-dimensional photograph, reconstructing our binocular vision.
Courtesy of the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northeastern Illinois University.
This document, above, from the Common Council files shows companies that submitted bids to build the two-mile tunnel. While in the midst of construction, the winning bidders, Dull & McGowan from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, found that due to hardships pertaining to the Civil War they had underbid on the job and appealed to city officials for more funds.
Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.	This document, left, from the Chicago History Museum's Chicago Water Works Collection, 1860s - 1870s shows the payroll list for the men who worked on the Lake Tunnel during the month of October 1866. During that month, the Chicago Tribune often reported on the tunnel's progress. At this point, the tunnel's two mile's had nearly been reached. It is likely that with the exception of Patrick Kelly at the bottom of the page, none of the other men - whose names appear mostly Irish and German - were able to sign their names, placing an "X" in acknowledgement of their payment. John Costello, the group's foreman, copied each man's name and also signed as a witness to the transaction. Laborers who dug the tunnel were paid $2 a day for their work.
Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.	In contrast to the laborers' salaries of $2 per day's work, the pay stub at the left shows pumping house engineer D.C. Cregier's salary for the month of March 1866 as $208.33. DeWitt Clinton Cregier had already been the pumping house engineer for 13 years by this time. Beginning as the engineer at the original Chicago Avenue station in 1853, he remained at that job until 1879 when he became the City Engineer, and subsequently the Commissioner of Public Works, and then Chicago's Mayor. In 1933, officials dedicated a bronze plaque in Cregier's honor on the historic Water Tower. It is still in place and reads, This tablet is erected in recognition of the outstanding services to the City of Chicago given by DEWITT CLINTON CREGIER ENGINEER OF CHICAGO AVE. PUMPING STATION 1853-1879 CITY ENGINEER 1879-1882 COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS 1882-1886 MAYOR OF CHICAGO 1889-1891