EVERYONE knows what San Antonio's Tower Life building is. It's a landmark jewel of late 1920s Gothic opulence that has had a fascinating history in its 70 years (as of 2018) of existence. Chimeras are located all along the ribs on the street level, but the gargoyles are on the 20th floor and above.
From the Texas Historical Commission's PDF of the National Register nomination form: (
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"SMITH-YOUNG TOWER also known as TRANSIT TOWER, TOWER LIFE BUILDING
The 1927-1928 Smith-Young Tower is a 31-story Late Gothic Revival office tower. The exterior walls are brick with terra cotta and black granite ornamentation. The interior embellishments, particularly in the first floor lobby, also reflect Late Gothic Revival design. The Smith-Young Tower is one block east of the Bexar County Courthouse at the southernmost edge of San Antonio's central business district . It is bounded by Villita Street to the south, St. Mary's Street to the west, the San Antonio River to the north , and an adjoining parking garage to the east. The building faces southwest onto the intersection of Villita and St. Mary's streets (see Photographs 1, 2, and 3 ). In excellent physical condition, the Smith-Young Tower retains a high level of architectural integrity.
The 14-story midsection shaft is a steel frame octagonal plan (see Photograph 8) . All eight sides of the shaft echo the rhythm of fenestration with aluminum sash windows grouped in threes separated by vertical framing members. Protected with a balustrade of terra cotta tracery, an observation deck at the 7th floor faces north and has red promenade tile flooring . Terra cotta decorates the 19th and 20th floors, while terra cotta tracery that acts as a parapet separates the shaft from the set-back capital."
The 11-story "capital " is a series of three steel frame octagons that recess at the 20th, 25th, and 29th floors. Each section repeats the established fenestration pattern. Terra cotta embellishes the 26th and 29th floors with gargoyles accenting each of the eight corners. The conical roof is covered with green clay tile and has gable dormers. Above the roof is a square copper-covered lantern and a large antenna. Until 1947 an 80-foot flag pole had been perched atop the lantern.
The Smith-Young Tower is in excellent condition. Some minor alterations include the addition of a mezzanine level in the main lobby and modernization of elevator lobbies and rest rooms. A noticeable exterior modification is the replacement of original windows; however, the newer aluminum sash windows do not detract from the overall quality of the building. The Smith-Young Tower conveys its significance through its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.
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The Smith-Young Tower bears a colorful history. It has served as a mooring mast for a blimp, a performance site for a duo of accomplished aerialists, as headquarters of the Third U.S. Army, and as a transmission tower for a television station. In the 1950s the San Antonio Transit Company owned the building and it was known as the Transit Tower. The Tower Life Insurance Company has owned the building since the 1960s and locals since refer to it as the Tower Life Building."