Introduction

HAER NO. IL-163

HOFMANN DAM

Riverside

Cook County

Illinois

Location:                    Hofmann Dam

Lyons and Riverside, Cook County, Illinois

Spanning the Des Plaines River

U.S.G.S. Berwyn 7.5 Minute Series Quadrangle

Section 2, Township 38N, Range 12E

Section 35, Township 39North, Range 12E

UTM Coordinates:   Zone 16

Northwest Pier 0431689E

4630021N

Southeast Pier 0431735E

4629967N

Present Owner:          The Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Present Use:            The Hofmann dam is a low-head dam spanning the Des Plaines River. The low-head dam is scheduled for partial replacement due to problems related to safety, water quality and aquatic habitat.

Significance:           The Hofmann dam site has contributed to the development and land use of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs since its inception nearly 140 years past.  The Hofmann dam can be traced as far back as the 1830s, when it was built in order to aid the first sawmill production of Northeastern Illinois.  It continued to function as a mill dam through the mid-1800s serving a grist mill for the later half of the century.  During such time, Frederick Law Olmsted specifically addressed the dam in the first planned suburban community of Riverside, Illinois, in 1868, marking a significant contributor to the field of landscape architecture and design. 

Early in the 1900s, construction of the concrete Hofmann dam and tower represented not only the rise of recreational boating and picnicking popular during the early 1900s, but also the beginning of industry, the production of new materials and the innovative drive necessary to accomplish such technology.  Specifically, the concrete structures of Niagara Park, designed after the Illinois and Michigan Canal’s Dellwood Park of Lockport, Illinois, represent the aspirations of George Hofmann Jr. in his attempt to create a recreational complex powered by its own hydro-electricity.  Lastly, the dam, as the result of dumping raw sewage into the Des Plaines River, initiated the implementation of improved sanitation in the western suburbs of Chicago through the first half of the nineteenth century. 

The Hofmann tower, located adjacent to the dam, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Hofmann dam is partially located within the Riverside Historic District, a National Historic Landmark. The United States Army Corps of Engineers consulted with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the National Park Service Midwest Office, the Advisory Council of Historic Preservation and various interested parties and determined that removal of the Hofmann dam and subsequent ecosystem restoration was an adverse effect. Level II Historic American Engineering Record is required under the Memorandum of Agreement.    

Last updated 07/23/2004 02:36 PM