 "Photo: Brian Ray")
The history of the Moon Towers is the history of Austin. The towers were built in an era of innovation, and they've been moved, shortened, re-built, and repaired over the years. The towers are outdated now and more expensive than regular street lights, but Austin keeps them lit up anyway. They've seen the city through presidents from Grover Cleveland to George W. Bush, through world wars and the discovery of oil in Texas, through the birth of the automobile and the end of prohibition, through the extension of voting rights to women and minorities and the end of affirmative action.
Today, only 17 of the 31 original towers remain, but they continue to be lit 365 nights a year.
In May 1890, citizens voted to issue $1.4 million in bonds for the city's first power and lighting system as city organizers began developing plans for the growing town. The lighting of the original towers on May 6, 1895 coincided with the first operation of the city power plant and the first citywide use of electricity.
The Center for American History at the LBJ Library has archived Austin's original documents and newspaper articles, including a May 4, 1895, report by the Austin American-Statesman: "Some four years ago the citizens of Austin conceived the scheme of building a dam and having their own water and light system. ... Several weeks ago the water system was started, and all Austin rejoiced, and they had good cause to do so. Last night, however, was the gala event in the history of Austin's triumph."
The gala event, of course, was the lighting of the moon towers. The towers went into full operation on May 6, their official birthday, providing the entire city with artificial light for the first time.
Thirty-one light towers wouldn't cover Austin today, but 1895 knew a much different town. The Austin population was 17,000 in 1895, and the University enrolled only 335 students.
The dam deal
The Granite Dam was built on the Colorado River to provide power for Austin's new citywide lighting system. When the dam was completed in 1893, it was the largest of its type in the world. Located near the current site of the Tom Miller Dam, separating Lake Austin and Town Lake, the Granite Dam attracted tourists until it broke in 1900.
At the time, Austinites preferred the tower lighting system over traditional street lights. "Not only were tower lights common when Austin's were installed, but they were more practical in that day of unpaved streets and hilly, undeveloped areas," wrote the San Antonio Express-News.
The towers were also guaranteed by the designers to be bright enough that a person could read his or her pocket watch within 3,000 feet of a tower on the "darkest of nights."
Austin hired Fort Wayne Electric Company to construct the light towers for $113,500. Built from cast and wrought iron, the triangular-shaped towers are 150 feet tall and are supported by a system of guide wires. They are mounted on smooth 15-foot steel poles to discourage climbers, bringing the iron behemoths to 165 feet. On top, six arms extend outward, each supporting a lamp and reflector.
Horse and buggy maintenance
Each tower originally had a one-person service elevator inside, which was operated by cable. Eventually that was replaced by a simple ladder, and these days tower servicemen use a crane lift. When the towers operated using carbon lamps, the filaments had to be trimmed and replaced every day by the tower technician, who went from tower to tower on a horse and buggy.
In 1923, the carbon lamps were replaced with oversized incandescent bulbs that required less maintenance. These bulbs were used until Mayor Tom Miller replaced them on May 6, 1936, to coincide with the 41st anniversary of the towers. The new mercury vapor lights emitted a bluish "moonlight" cast like that of the original carbon lamps, and today's mercury vapor lights only have to be replaced once every two to three years.
Today, maintenance is performed on an as-needed basis, said Carlos Cordova, spokesman for the Austin Energy Department. The Department's "Illumination Division" handles maintenance for the towers as well as all other street lights, and conducts quarterly inspections of each tower. If three or more lights are out on any single tower, Cordova said, it gets scheduled for maintenance.
"Due to the height of the Moonlight Towers, we use a large Condor lift that requires us to close off the street we are working on," Cordova added.
When Austin erected the tower system, Detroit, Mich., was believed to have been the only other city in America with similar lighting. By the late 1930s, Detroit had abandoned its tower lighting system, and the San Antonio Express-News wrote in 1937 that the Moonlight Towers "attract more attention than any other single feature in Austin."
Rumors dispelled
While advertising value kept the towers aloft in 1937, sentimental value has kept them alive since then and has earned them the affectionate title of the "Moonlight Towers." When the electric department tried to take down one of the towers in 1964 without assuring immediate relocation, hundreds of citizens signed a petition demanding that the city council immediately reestablish the tower in its original area.
Sentiments were quite different before construction of the towers, when many people predicted the 24-hour light would cause severe overgrowth of gardens and lawns. Farmers feared that giant corn and beans would be impossible to harvest and that homeowners would have to chop their grass with an axe. Optimists, on the other hand, claimed that chickens would lay eggs 24 hours a day.
People soon realized that the artificial moonlight had no effect on plants or animals.
In 1958, superintendent Tom Turner, of the electric distribution department, was asked if there were any plans to tear down the towers. Turner laughingly replied that the town would "stage a revolt" if that were attempted. The most serious threat of removal came in 1942 as World War II gripped America and the ability of a town to "blackout" all of its lights was considered a crucial defense. The city installed a central "blackout" switch for all of the towers in case of an attack.
Rumor has it the towers were arranged across the city in the shape of a star. In fact, they were just put where they were needed, and they don't form a star.
The towers became official state landmarks in April 1970, and were placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1976. Historical markers have also been placed on the towers by the city of Austin.
Over the years, the 31 original towers have dwindled down to 17 due to inclement weather, traffic accidents and decay. Because of construction and street widening, several of the towers have been relocated within the same area and some have been moved entirely.
Such is the case with the tower in Zilker Park, which was moved from Eighth and Brazos streets. Now, each December it is lit with more than 3,000 colored bulbs to become the "world's largest Christmas tree."
Dazed and confused
The Moonlight Towers even found their way into Austin film director Richard Linklater's 1993 film, "Dazed and Confused." A Moon Tower appears in several scenes, including one in which Matthew McConaughey gets drunk in Zilker Park under the lights of the tower. While climbing to the top, McConaughey's comrades tell the story of a boy who fell from the tower to scare their freshmen accomplices.
The story was not completely misguided. 11-year-old James Fowler found himself dazed and confused on June 4, 1930, after falling from the top of a tower. On the last day of school, James climbed on a bet from his friends, but upon reaching the summit, he slipped and plummeted to the earth. He bounced along the inside of the tower, where support wires broke his fall. He landed on the platform 15 feet from the ground.
Amazingly, Fowler suffered no broken bones; he was in a coma for 9 days and received 187 stitches.
On Jan. 29, 1964, The Daily Texan reported that a crazed father had climbed a tower with his infant son in his arms. The man claimed he would jump if anyone came up after him, but a Catholic priest succeeded in climbing the tower and talking him down.
The towers today
The quality of iron in 1895 was not strong enough for the towers to stand more than 100 years without restorations. In 1985, voters approved $850,000 to give the towers a face lift that included straightening the bends, tightening guide wires and painting the towers.
This was only a temporary fix, however, and in 1993 the city began a $1.3 million project to completely disassemble and restore each tower. The completion of that overhaul coincided with the 100-year anniversary of the Moonlight Towers, which was celebrated with three days of festivities and a birthday party on May 6, 1995.
Austin Energy Department's Cordova said that only four of the 17 towers still standing are at the original height of 165 feet. Cordova said that bits and pieces of the towers have been removed and used as replacements for damaged portions of other towers. The other 13 towers, including the one at Zilker park, are now only 150 feet tall.
