The moonlight towers in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, are the only known surviving moonlight towers in the world. They are tall and have a foundation. A single tower casts light from six carbon arc lamps, illuminating a circle brightly enough to read a watch. 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 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 or "great artistic v ...

on July 12, 1976. Only 6 are in their original locations as established by the Board of Public Works and City Council in 1895.

History

In 1894, the City of Austin purchased 31 used towers from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. They were manufactured in Indiana by Fort Wayne Electric Company and assembled onsite. Some have claimed that Austin put up moonlight towers partially in response to the actions of the Servant Girl Annihilator, also known as the Midnight Assassin, but in fact the towers were not erected until 1894 and 1895, ten years after the murders took place. 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 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 ge ...

. In the 1920s their original carbon-arc lamps, which were exceedingly bright but time-consuming to maintain, were replaced by

incandescent lamps An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxidat ...

, which gave way in turn to

mercury vapor lamp A mercury-vapor lamp is a gas-discharge lamp that uses an electric arc through vaporized mercury to produce light. The arc discharge is generally confined to a small fused quartz arc tube mounted within a larger soda lime or borosilicate glass ...

s in the 1930s. The mercury vapor lamps were controlled by a switch at each tower's base. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a central switch was installed, allowing citywide blackouts in case of air raids. In 1993 the city of Austin dismantled the towers and restored every bolt, turnbuckle and

guy-wire A guy-wire, guy-line, guy-rope, or stay, also called simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a free-standing structure. They are used commonly for ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, and tents. A thi ...

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.

Tower locations

Surviving towers

There are 13 surviving towers kept in original condition except for a historic plaque on each tower. * West 9th and Guadalupe St (SE corner) * W. 12th St. and Blanco St (SE corner) * W. 12th St. and Rio Grande St (NW corner) * W. 15th St. and San Antonio St (SW corner) * W. 41st St. and Speedway St (SW corner) * Zilker Park (used for Zilker Park Christmas Tree) (moved from Emma Long Metropolitan Park) * Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Chicon St (SE corner) * E. 13th St. and Coleto St (NE corner) * Pennsylvania Ave. and Leona St (NE corner) * E. 11th St. and Trinity St (SE corner) * E. 11th St. and Lydia St (SE corner) * Canterbury St. and Lynn St. (NE corner) * Leland St. and Eastside Dr (SE corner)

Dismantled towers

* East 1st St. and Waller St. * East 6th St. and Medina St. * E. 14th St. and Sabine St * E. 14th St. and Sabine St (SW corner) * Hawthorne (which later became either E. 20th or E. 21st) and Longfellow. * Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (was 19th St.) and Lavaca St. * E. 16th St. and Brazos St. * E. 2nd St. and Neches St. (Convention Center) * W. 6th St. and Westlynn St * Dean Keeton St. (was 26th St.) and Whitis Ave. * E. 5th St. and Brazos St. (moved to Leland St. and East Side Dr.) * 29th St. and Lamar Blvd. * W. 6th St. and Lamar Blvd. * City Park renamed to Emma Long Metropolitan Park (moved to Zilker Park) * North end of Granite Dam (near power station and Ben Hur dock) * East Cesar Chavez Street and Trinity St. (SW corner) * West 4th and Nueces (SW corner) * Monroe St. and S. 1st S (SW corner)

In popular culture

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."New York Times: "Austin’s Moon Towers, Beyond ‘Dazed and Confused’" by MARK OPPENHEIMER
February 13, 2014 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. The Moontower Comedy Festival at the Paramount Theater in Austin is named after the Moontowers.

References

External links

New York Times: Austin’s Moon Towers, Beyond ‘Dazed and Confused’

99% Invisible podcast episode: Under the Moonlight
{{National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas 1894 establishments in Texas Street lighting Buildings and structures in Austin, Texas Towers in Texas Infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks City of Austin Historic Landmarks