There are a lot of different types of towers: monopole, lattice, guyed, concealed, and broadcast. But one that Inside Towers finds fascinating is Moonlight Towers. These structures were popular throughout the United States in the 1880s and 1890s and were used to illuminate areas of a city at night. They were built when standard street lights were impractical and expensive. Austin, Texas, is the only city in the world with these towers. Standing 165-feet tall, these towers were manufactured in Indiana by Fort Wayne Electric Company and assembled on site. In 1894, the City of Austin purchased 31 used towers from Detroit, and 17 remain active today. In November 2014, the City of Austin awarded Enertech Resources, LLC a three year contract not-to-exceed $2,127,280 for the maintenance, restoration, and repair of the 17 Historic Moonlight Towers located in Austin. Enertech is a wireless site development and construction company specializing in services for commercial, government, and enterprise customers. Since 2008, the company has provided in-house project management, site acquisition, professional engineering and full-service construction crews.
The towers were last restored between 1993 and 1995, but they need to be painted and undergo inspection to ensure safety and preservation. “It’s really exciting. This is part of Austin’s heritage and, being a tower company, they are some of the oldest towers there are,” Dale Schumaker with Enertech Resources told Time Warner Cable News. “We’re inspecting the guy wires, the guy anchors, the tower itself for rust, corrosion, alignment, just making sure they’re in good condition.” In 1970, the towers were recognized as Texas State Landmarks, and then the 17 towers were placed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1976. The restoration project should take three years, and the city hopes to keep the towers active for another 100 years. The historical marker plaque on one Moonlight Tower reads, “This is one of 27 that remain out of 31 towers erected 1894-95 and in continuous use since. Their carbon arc lights then illuminated entire city. Now mercury vapor lamps provide beacons for many miles on roads and airway, from dusk to dawn. Austin is said to be unique in the dramatic method of lighting.” Two towers have been destroyed in traffic accidents, two have been blown down by cyclones, and six have been victims of rust and old age.
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