Moonlight tower

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A moonlight tower or moontower is a lighting structure designed to illuminate areas of a town or city at night. Only the collection of towers in Austin, Texas, have been historically called "moonlight towers," a term that dates to the mid-20th century, although the light from the towers was compared to moonlight since they were installed in 1895.

The towers were popular in the late 19th century in cities across the United States;[citation needed] they were most common in the 1880s and 1890s. In some places they were used when standard street-lighting, using smaller, shorter, and more numerous lamps, was impractically expensive. In other places they were used in addition to gas street lighting. The towers were designed to illuminate areas often of several blocks at once, on the "high light" principle. Arc lamps, known for their exceptionally bright and harsh light, were the most common method of illumination. As incandescent electric street lighting became common, the prevalence of towers began to wane.

TxDOT headquarters, served as inspiration for some of the first high-mast lighting towers in the US in the 1960s and 1970s.[1]

Austin, Texas

A moonlight tower in Austin, Texas (2009)
Main article: Moonlight towers (Austin, Texas)

Austin, Texas, is the only city in the world known to still have moonlight towers. They are 165 feet (50 m) tall with foundations 15 feet (4.6 m) wide. The towers were manufactured in Indiana by Fort Wayne Electric Company and assembled on site.[2] A single tower cast light from six carbon arc lamps, illuminating a 1,500-foot (460 m) radius brightly enough to read a watch.[3]

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.

Detroit

Detroit, Michigan
, about 1900

Cadillac Square; the towers were soon removed there, too.[6]

Minneapolis

In 1883, Minneapolis, Minnesota, built a single 275-foot (84 m) tall "electric mast" in the Gateway District to eliminate the need for 150 gas lamps in the vicinity at a cost of $500.[7] The tower's eight 4,000 candlepower arc lights cast stark shadows and failed to illuminate streets. After the Minneapolis City Council voted to remove the tower in 1892, its signature copper ball sat in the window of a local saloon. [8]

New Orleans

New Orleans riverfront electrically illuminated at night, 1883

Towers were erected in New Orleans, Louisiana, starting in the early 1880s. One set of towers illuminated a section of the Mississippi River levee, aiding in loading and unloading ships at night in the busy port. A tower at the busy intersection of Canal Street, Bourbon Street, and Carondelet Street was constructed with a set of four water pipes to aid in fire-fighting in the nearby multi-story buildings.[9]

San Jose, California

San Jose Electric Light Tower
half-size replica
Main article: San Jose electric light tower

In 1881, a 237-foot (72 m)-tall[10] tower was erected spanning the intersection of Santa Clara and Market streets in San Jose, California, making it the first city to be illuminated by electric light west of the Rocky Mountains.[11] James Jerome ("J.J.") Owens, publisher of the San Jose Mercury, came up with the idea for the tower after visiting the first electrical lighting station in San Francisco in 1879.[12] The tower collapsed in a storm on December 3, 1915.[13]

In 1977, a nearly half-sized replica, 115 feet (35 m) tall, was constructed at the

San Jose Historical Museum.[14]

Wabash, Indiana

Charles Brush
in 1870.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-9741605-3-9
    .
  2. ^ Texas Historical Commission Atlas
  3. ^ "Progress Report Austin - Legends of Austin k2". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. 1962. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  4. Atlantic Media Company
    . Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  5. ISBN 978-0-226-03602-1
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-801-86593-0
    .
  7. ^ St. Paul Globe, June 10, 1883, p. 6
  8. ^ Abe Altrowitz. "Minneapolis...as it might have been," Minneapolis Tribune, March 15, 1936, p. 8
  9. ^ The Electrical Engineer, August 3, 1888, page 90
  10. ^ San Jose Historical Museum Association plaque located beneath the tower.
  11. OCLC 20691190
    .
  12. ^ Larson, p. 1.
  13. ^ Larson, p. 21.
  14. ^ Larson, p. 22.
  15. ^ "Wabash lighted the way 125 years ago". Wabash Weekly Plain Dealer. March 30, 2005. Retrieved March 20, 2016.[permanent dead link]

External links

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