Austin’s Moonlight Towers: 19th-Century Arc Lights, the Last on Earth
Explore the history and unique survival of Austin's historic 17 Moonlight Towers, the only functional examples of 1890s-era electric street lighting systems remaining globally.
Austin’s unique Moonlight Towers stand as a towering testament to late 19th-century ingenuity. Erected in 1894, these 165-foot steel giants were the city’s ambitious, yet ultimately singular, solution to lighting an entire metropolis from above. Once common in major American cities, Austin is the only place where this pioneering electric street lighting system survives and remains operational.
