Hofmann Tower

Hofmann Tower is a tower in Lyons, Illinois. Built in 1908, it is named after local brewer George Hofmann Jr., who built the tower and a neighboring dam as part of a park that attracted visitors to picnic and ride boats. The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978. Hofmann's heirs sold the tower to the Forest Preserve District of Cook County in 1946. In the 1970s, Rose Marie Benedetti and Maureen S. Kiener worked closely with the Village of Lyons Historical Commission to have Hofmann Tower designated a village and state landmark and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2024 the tower is closed to the public due to its deteriorating condition. Hofmann Tower is featured prominently in two books written by Rose Marie Benedetti and Virginia C. Bulat, titled Lyons: A history of a village and area important for 300 years (1959) and Portage, pioneers, and pubs: A history of Lyons, Illinois (1963).

Building data from Wikidata (CC0); heights normalised. Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).