Tower Life Building (formerly Smith-Young Tower, Pan-American Tower, and Transit Tower) is a 31-story building and a historical landmark in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, USA. Completed in 1929 and standing at tall, Tower Life Building was the tallest building and structure in San Antonio until the

Tower of the Americas The Tower of the Americas is a observation tower-restaurant located in the Hemisfair district in the southeastern portion of Downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. The tower was designed by San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford and was ...

was completed in 1968, and the

Marriott Rivercenter The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the River Walk is a hotel located in San Antonio, Texas, USA. At a tip height of 546 feet (166 meters), the 38-floor hotel is List of tallest buildings in San Antonio, the tallest building in San Antonio ...

surpassed it as the tallest building in San Antonio in 1988. As of 2023, Tower Life Building is the 4th tallest building in San Antonio and the tallest eight-sided structure in the United States. Designed by noted local architectural firm Ayres & Ayres ( Atlee & Robert M. Ayres), the neo-gothic tower has a brick and terra-cotta octagonal exterior, featuring gothic elements (such as

grotesques Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

, often misidentified as gargoyles) and an iconic green roof of Ludowici tile. The internal structure is reinforced concrete on the lower floors, and steel frame on the upper floors. A television transmission antenna topped the tower from 1953 until 2010, when the tower reverted to the original design of a copper tophouse with a tall flagpole. In 1991 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. After 78 years of ownership by the H. B. Zachry Family, the building was purchased in May 2022 by an ownership group composed of San Antonio developers Ed Cross, Jon Wiegand, and McCombs Enterprises. This ownership group plans to usher in new era for the building as a residence with 244 units for rent, expected to be completed in 2026.

Greater 1920s Development

Originally known as Smith-Young Tower, the tower was the central component of a partially completed 1920s development called the Bowen Island Skyscrapers. The other completed building in the development is the former Plaza Hotel (also designed by Ayres & Ayres and opened in 1927), which became the local outlet of Hilton Hotels in 1956 and was converted into the Granada Apartments in 1966. Subsequent structures in the development were never built as a direct result of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

Sears, Roebuck & Company

The tower housed San Antonio's first

Sears, Roebuck & Company Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwal ...

store, originally occupying the building's basement and first 4 levels. Opening on March 7, 1929, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was the first portion of the building opened to the public, with 35,000 items on display and 225 members of staff. A famous purchase at this Sears, Roebuck & Co. took place on Nov. 17, 1934 when San Antonio Postmaster Dan Quill purchased multiple wedding rings from the jewelry counter on behalf of his friend

Lyndon Baines Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

, who was getting married later that day. Uncertain of the size, 12 wedding rings were purchased, with the one fitting Lady Bird Johnson's finger – and ultimately being selected – costing $2.98.

Names through Time

When Smith-Young Tower emerged from receivership under a new owner (Dallas Rupe & Son., Inc.) in the mid-1930s, a competition was held for newspaper readers to write in with suggestions of a new name for the tower. The winning entry was submitted by school teachers Mr. & Mrs. Howard Doolittle, and the tower's name was changed to Pan-American Tower in 1938. In 1942, the building was renamed Transit Tower for the San Antonio Transit Company, which was purchased by Dallas Rupe & Son., Inc. and had its headquarters in the building. On Dec. 15, 1943, the tower was acquired by Citizens Republic Life Insurance company. In 1960, the insurance company announced it would change its name to Tower Life Insurance company, and the name of the building would change to Tower Life Building.

Popular Culture

Film

Tower Life Building's exterior is featured prominently in the 1984 movie Cloak & Dagger. The building also appears in the background of scenes in the 2000 movie Miss Congeniality.

Television

* The tower has been a fixture on evening news backdrops. * The tower was featured in the

Docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

Life After People ''Life After People'' is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of h ...

in the episode titled "Roads to Nowhere" where the building collapsed 50 years after people.

Myths

Contrary to frequently-repeated stories along the River Walk, neither of the initial owners (Jim Smith nor Albert Smith) ended their lives by jumping from the tower during the Great Depression.

Images

File:San Antonio River Walk July 2017 23 (Tower Life Building).jpg, Tower Life Building as viewed from the River Walk File:SA tower view from between.jpg, The building is seen in the background to the right, behind the San Fernando Cathedral. File:Tower Life Building, San Antonio, Texas.jpg, File:TowerLifeBuilding, night green.jpg, File:Tower Life Building from Tower of the Americas.jpg, Viewed from the top of the

in 2003.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{San Antonio National Register of Historic Places in San Antonio Skyscraper office buildings in San Antonio Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Office buildings completed in 1929