Moonlight Towers (Austin, Texas)

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Moonlight Towers
Austin Moontower at Night.jpg
A moonlight tower at night
LocationAustin and vicinity
Nearest city Austin, Texas
Built1894 (1894)
Architect Fort Wayne Electric Co.
Architectural styleLighting Towers
NRHP reference # 76002071 [1]
RTHL # 6424
TSAL # 627
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 12, 1976
Designated RTHL1970
Designated TSAL5/28/1981

The Moonlight towers in Austin, Texas are the only known surviving light towers in the world. They are 165 feet (50 m) tall and have a 15-foot (4.6 m) foundation. A single tower cast light from six carbon arc lamps, illuminating a 1,500-foot-radius (460 m) circle brightly enough to read a watch. [2]

Austin, Texas Capital of Texas

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. It is the 11th-most populous city in the United States and the 4th-most populous city in Texas. It is also the fastest growing large city in the United States, the second most populous state capital after Phoenix, Arizona, and the southernmost state capital in the contiguous United States. As of the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2017 estimate, Austin had a population of 950,715 up from 790,491 at the 2010 census. The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan statistical area, which had an estimated population of 2,115,827 as of July 1, 2017. Located in Central Texas within the greater Texas Hill Country, it is home to numerous lakes, rivers, and waterways, including Lady Bird Lake and Lake Travis on the Colorado River, Barton Springs, McKinney Falls, and Lake Walter E. Long.

Moonlight tower structure to emit significant light over an urban area

A moonlight tower or moontower is a lighting structure designed to illuminate areas of a town or city at night.

Contents

In 1970 the towers were recognized as Texas State Landmarks, followed by the 15 remaining towers being listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1976. Only 6 are in their original locations as established by the Board of Public Works and City Council in 1895.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

History

In 1894, the City of Austin purchased 31 used towers from Detroit. They were manufactured in Indiana by Fort Wayne Electric Company and assembled onsite. [3] Some have claimed that Austin put up moonlight towers partially in response to the actions of the Servant Girl Annihilator, but in fact the towers were not erected until 1894 and 1895, ten years after the murders took place. [4]

Detroit Largest city in Michigan

Detroit is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the largest United States city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of Wayne County. The municipality of Detroit had a 2017 estimated population of 673,104, making it the 23rd-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area. Regarded as a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music and as a repository for art, architecture and design.

Servant Girl Annihilator serial killer in Austin, Texas, USA between 1884-1885

A serial killer, who became known as the Servant Girl Annihilator, preyed upon the city of Austin, Texas, during the years 1884 and 1885. The sobriquet originated with the writer O. Henry.

When first erected, the towers were connected to electric generators at the Austin Dam, completed in 1893 on the site of present-day Tom Miller Dam. In the 1920s their original carbon-arc lamps, which were exceedingly bright but time-consuming to maintain, were replaced by incandescent lamps, which gave way in turn to mercury vapor lamps in the 1930s. The mercury vapor lamps were controlled by a switch at each tower's base. During World War II, a central switch was installed, allowing citywide blackouts in case of air raids.

Tom Miller Dam

Tom Miller Dam is a dam located on the Colorado River within the city limits of Austin, Texas, United States. The City of Austin, aided by funds from the Public Works Administration, constructed the dam for the purpose of flood control and for generating hydroelectric power. Named after Robert Thomas Miller, a former Mayor of Austin, the dam forms Lake Austin, one of the Texas Highland Lakes.

Incandescent light bulb Electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows

An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated to such a high temperature that it glows with visible light (incandescence). The filament is protected from oxidation with a glass or fused quartz bulb that is filled with inert gas or a vacuum. In a halogen lamp, filament evaporation is slowed by a chemical process that redeposits metal vapor onto the filament, thereby extending its life.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

In 1993 the city of Austin dismantled the towers and restored every bolt, turnbuckle and guy-wire as part of a $1.3 million project, the completion of which was celebrated in 1995 with a citywide festival. The City of Austin has ordinances in place to protect the towers from demolition. However, since 2004 the towers at 4th and Nueces, at 1st and Trinity, and at West 22nd St. and Nueces have all been removed to clear the way for new construction. It is unclear whether they will be dismantled or erected elsewhere.

A guy-wire, guy-line, or guy-rope, also known as simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a free-standing structure. They are used commonly in ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, fire service extension ladders used in church raises and tents. A thin vertical mast supported by guy wires is called a guyed mast. Structures that support antennas are frequently of a lattice construction and are called "towers". One end of the guy is attached to the structure, and the other is anchored to the ground at some distance from the mast or tower base. The tension in the diagonal guy-wire, combined with the compression and buckling strength of the structure, allows the structure to withstand lateral loads such as wind or the weight of cantilevered structures. They are installed radially, usually at equal angles about the structure, in trios and quads. As the tower leans a bit due to the wind force, the increased guy tension is resolved into a compression force in the tower or mast and a lateral force that resists the wind load. For example, antenna masts are often held up by three guy-wires at 120° angles. Structures with predictable lateral loads, such as electrical utility poles, may require only a single guy-wire to offset the lateral pull of the electrical wires, at a spot where the wires change direction.

A local ordinance is a law for a political division smaller than a state or nation, i.e., a local government such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, etc.

Tower locations

Surviving towers

The moonlight tower in Zilker Park Moonlight tower.jpg
The moonlight tower in Zilker Park

There are 14 surviving towers kept in original condition except for a historic plaque on each tower. [5] [6]

Dismantled towers

The Zilker Park tower was prominently featured in the film Dazed and Confused (1993) as the site of a high-school keg party, in which the character David Wooderson played by Matthew McConaughey exclaims, "Party at the moon tower." [8]

This place used to be off limits, man, 'cause some drunk freshman fell off. He went right down the middle, smacking his head on every beam, man. I hear it doesn't hurt after the first couple though. Autopsy said he had one beer, how many did you have? [9]

Ron Slater, Dazed and Confused

The scenes were actually filmed at mock-up of a tower, which was erected at Walter E. Long Park east of Austin. Both the base and top of the tower shown in the movie differed greatly from those of the real towers.

There is a band called Moonlight Towers from Austin. [10]

An episode of the podcast 99% Invisible titled "Under the Moonlight" explores the history of the moonlight towers.

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References

  1. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. "Progress Report Austin: Legends of Austin k2". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. 1962. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  3. Texas Historical Commission Atlas
  4. Neinast, Roy. "Serial Killers and Stoners: 10 Facts about Austin's Moonlight Towers". Glasstire. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  5. Powell, William Dylan (2006). Austin then & now. San Diego, Calif.: Thunder Bay Press. pp. 74, 75. ISBN   1-59223-658-8.
  6. "Austin's Moonlight Towers". www.google.com. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
  7. 1 2 "Moonlight Towers". Austin Postcard. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  8. New York Times: "Austin’s Moon Towers, Beyond ‘Dazed and Confused’" by MARK OPPENHEIMER February 13, 2014
  9. "Quotes for Mitch Kramer (Character)". IMDB . Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  10. "Moonlight Towers album review". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved March 25, 2014.