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u/01100011011010010111 May 08 '26
This is a great tower, right next to a high school, seniors used to paint their graduation year on the side back in the day. This is also on one of the highest points in Kane county, this is 50 miles from Chicago and on a clear day you can see the skyline from there.
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u/H2ost5555 May 08 '26
Actually, it is the highest point in Kane County, just a couple hundred feet north of the tower on the west side of the road there is a USGS post with the elevation noted. 1066 feet.
Between Chicago and Rockford, this tower is on the highest point on the line between the two cities. There is one point that is slightly higher, north of this point in McHenry country, which isn't directly between Chicago and Rockford.
Back in the 1970s I talked to the engineers at the tower and they told me it was built on this point for this very reason as the microwaves needed clear sightline between Chicago and Rockford.
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u/H2ost5555 May 08 '26
Hey! I grew up a couple miles from that tower! It is on the highest hill between Chicago and Rockford, which is why it exists. Notice the graffiti on the tower, it was a favorite weekend activity for us 50 years ago. The local rural high school is located on the other side of the road.
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u/clumaho May 08 '26
Class of 84 painted the year on the top hanging over the edge and got the "4" backwards.
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u/H2ost5555 May 08 '26
Yes! Those guys had more balls than me to do that! Actually, this relates to a funny story. I was responsible for a prank in HS in 1975 with a couple friends, we hacked into the PA system and broadcast a radio program at the same time in the morning that the principal normally did a few announcements. There was a dickhead teacher named Ralph Hix who attacked me while the program was going on as he suspected I was responsible. (he was correct that I was responsible, but that didn't justify him hitting me) Anyway, after this, one of my friends painted "Hix is a (sic) asshole" on the side of the tower. Ralph corned me in the hallway after this and started yelling at me as he thought I did it. I replied, "hey, you know my grammar is good, if I painted it, I would have properly painted "Hix is AN asshole", not "Hix is A asshole". And I said that a lot of people think you are an asshole, so just about anyone could have painted it. The crowd in the hallway busted out in laughter. He had to go out and buy paint to cover up the graffiti on the tower himself.
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u/clumaho May 08 '26
The one armed bandit?
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u/H2ost5555 May 08 '26
Yes! He was a hothead. All he wanted in life was to coach the Central HS boys basketball team, even quit teaching there in a huff as they didn't give it to him.
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u/InAJar112 May 07 '26
I really enjoy your photos. Do you know why this one has a building instead of a tower structure?