Moonlight Towers
a.k.a. Austin Tower Lighting System
Austin and vicinity, Austin, TXThe Austin "Moonlight Towers" are believed to be the only remaining examples of the tower lighting system which was popular in U.S. cities during the late 19th century. At the time of their installation in Austin, only Detroit, Michigan, still maintained a similar lighting system. Efficiency and economy had pushed other cities to replace the tower lights with conventional street lights. But Austin's citizens have opposed moves to remove their "Moonlight Towers," citing their romantic, sentimental, and advertising value. The City has respected the feelings of the people and has put forth great effort in caring for the 21 remaining towers (Deemed "Moonlight Towers" because of the blue, moonlight-like glow they cast, they were put up high with the theory that they would diffuse a light everywhere, like the moon or sun.) , including the moving of a tower threatened by the widening of a street and the erection, in 1967» of a replica tower in Zilker Park (to replace a fallen one) at a cost of $10,000. Originally, 31 of the lighting structures were built by the Fort Wayne Electric Company and put into use for the first time on May 6, 1895. They were to provide illumination for the hilly City of Austin at night, aiding citizens in their nocturnal movements about the City and helping police to protect businesses after dark. The towers became an official state landmark in April 1970.
Austin's city officers of the 1890's, led by Mayor A.P. Wooldridge, received the "Moonlight Towers" in exchange for a city-owned narrow-gauge railroad which had been used for transporting building materials to the old Austin Dam site on the Colorado River (an historic engineering failure, the dam broke in I9OO). The Fort Wayne Electric Company agreed to light the City of Austin and to install dynamos at the Austin Dam which would power the lamps. The transaction for lighting and dynamos was conducted with $70,000 in cash and the remaining $43,500 as trade in value for the railroad, setting the original cost of each of the 31 "Moonlight Towers" at approximately $1,500. Since the day they were first lit the lights have been off for only a few short periods. Threatened with removal on two occasions, the towers have been zealously protected by Austin's citizens. The City has incorporated the old system with the newer, more conventional street lights and has continued to maintain the Tower Lighting System in response to the demands of the citizens.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.