From Jacci Howard Bear,
Your Guide to Austin.
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Although I had lived in Austin over a decade, and visited many times before, it was only in 2000 that I 'discovered' the Moonlight Towers. You may have seen them many times but not known what they were or their significance. Have you ever seen the annual Zilker Park Christmas tree? A Moonlight Tower is used for the tree.

In 1894 Austin purchased 31 used lighting towers from the City of Detroit. At that time these types of light towers were common in US cities to illuminate urban areas in place of streetlights. A single tower cast a bright light from its six carbon arc lamps, illuminating a 3000 feet circle. Mercury vapor lamps are now in use in these 165 foot triangular cast-and wrought-iron structures.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Austin is the only US city that still retains and uses a portion of this once popular tower lighting system. Seventeen of the original 31 towers, although moved from time to time to allow for city growth and street widening, are still in use.

In celebration of their 100th birthday in 1995, the city of Austin took down each tower for a complete restoration then replaced them at their original sites. Most of the towers can be found in residential areas near downtown although there are a few in the downtown area.

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