Rooftop transmission towers and beacons of the past

[ethereal_reality]

I find it very interesting how skyscrapers that are considered short today, were once host to numerous transmitter towers and beacons. Many included directions for aircraft to the area's regional airport. Others have special weather displays or time pieces.

POST any photographs you have of these archaic ephemeral beacons/antennas in your city/region.

Chicago is most famous for the 2,000,000 candle-power Lindbergh beacon atop the Palmolive (old Playboy) Building.

The beacon could be seen by pilots as far away as Cleveland and St. Louis (so it's been said). Something I didn't know, until recently, was that the beacon had TWO beams of light. One was a rotating 360 degree beam (correct me if I'm wrong), and the other (the one I didn't know about) was a stationary beam aimed at Midway Airport (Chicago Municipal Airport at the time) 8 miles southwest of the Loop.



Hedrich-Blessing



This is a slide from 1958, photographer unknown.



unknown





Below: A smaller 'sister' aviation beacon was atop the 41 story Lasalle-Wacker Building


This photograph is looking north from the Chicago Board of Trade Observatory.
That's the Lasalle-Wacker beacon on the left, and on the right is the steeple of the 568 foot Chicago Temple Building (highest chapel in the world).

This is the Lasalle-Wacker Building in the foreground, with the Palmolive Building in the northern distance (just to the left of Lasalle-Wacker).

Here is Lasalle Wacker on the far left, and the Palmolive 'Lindbergh' beacon far right. In the center is the radiant Wrigley Building (1920)

The transmission tower on Marina City was very unique.
The WLS tower was a GIANT thermometer, with red lights running vertically.
The thermometer would rise and fall according to the current weather.

1967, photographer unknown.


1967, photographer unknown.


1967, a cropped version of a Cushman/Indiana University archive.

The black and gold tower is the 503 foot Carbide and Carbon Building from 1929 (today, it's the Hard Rock Hotel),
even this tower had an antenna. Does anyone have any information on it?.


photographer unknown


Here is a rare color shot of the 'thermometer' atop Marina City.



Below: A tank with a beacon and directions pointing the way to Chicago Municipal Airport (Midway)

unknown

Pretty cool huh.

POST your photographs everyone!

[Nowhereman1280]

Cool pictures, this is an interesting thread.


onmilwaukee.com

This flame shaped beacon is atop the beautiful Art Deco Wisconsin Gas building, the flame changes color to let you know if the weather is staying the same, getting colder, warmer, or if precipitation is expected.

Blue means its going to be same kind of weather the next day, Gold means it will get colder the next day, Red means it will get warmer the next day. If the beacon is flashing then precipitation is expected.

Here is the whole building:


wikipedia

Another cool note about this building is that the brick making the exterior fades from dark to light as it goes from bottom to the top.

[LMich]

The Penobscot Building in downtown Detroit has a pretty famous local beacon:


SNWEB.ORG (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snweb/)


SNWEB.ORG (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snweb/)


SNWEB.ORG (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snweb/)

[circle7ontop]

Outstanding photos - I'm looking for some info about the Marina City broadcasting masts - think you could help?

[ethereal_reality]

^^^ Circle7onTop
Detailed information on the WLS transmitter tower(s) is hard to come by.
It's even a bit difficult to find photographs. When I was a small boy you could go on the roof....as it's observation deck. I only have vague memories of it....mostly that I was SO surprised to actually be on the roof. It was frightening for a small boy.

Nowhereman1280- Thanks for sharing the Wisconsin Gas Building's FLAME shaped beacon. I had no idea that existed. It's absolutely cool.

LMICH- The Penobscot is one of my favorite building ; great to see it on here.

[King Owl]

Williams Tower in Houston has to be the best current building with a beacon. There's a rotating beacon on top of the 900+ foot skyscraper in Uptown Houston.

[ethereal_reality]

obsolete transmission towers, Chicago 1966.


The buildings with the antennae are from left to right :
The Carbide & Carbon Building, the Mather Tower, 333 N. Michigan Ave.
and Marina Towers.







In the foreground on the left, is a great close-up of the antenna on the Carbide & Carbon Building,
with the Mather Tower behind it .

Both these photos were taken by Charles W. Cushman in 1966.

[ethereal_reality]

Here is a view of the beacon atop the Palmolive Building.


and two more..


A rare side view.
I can't believe how thin the Palmolive Building looks from this angle.

[ethereal_reality]

^^^
King Owl. Here is a photo of Houston's 900+ft Williams Tower at night.


photographer unknown.

I'm glad you contributed to the thread. I had no idea about this beacon.
It's really cool.

[ethereal_reality]

Palmolive Bldg without the beacon.

looks naked.

[KevinFromTexas]

San Antonio has the Drury Inn Plaza Hotel in downtown which has a weather mast on it. It later became part of a huge sign (still there) and for communication. The building was originally built as the Alamo National Bank Building in 1929, but was recently turned into a hotel. The mast was restored and now it has a combination of different colored lights that fade in and out. Looks cool.

Photo by John R


Photo by John R

Then there's the Mercantile National Bank Building in Dallas. This building is being turned into condominiums. The spire atop the building has been restored and is now lit with all different colored lights.


Photo by Ninjatune

Original thread here:
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...showtopic=2441

Original thread here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=139160

[LMich]

Another odd rooftop transmission tower in Detroit is the transmission tower atop the Cadillac Tower in Detroit, and is still very much in use. It's unique in that it's a guyed mast atop a skyscraper, something you don't see much of anymore.


SNWEB (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snweb/)


Tribe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tribe/)

[Alpha]

WGSO in New Orleans has a mast radiator for AM-broadcasting on the rooftop of its building according to http://www.fybush.com/sites/2005/site-050902.html


Mast radiator of WGSO ( tower on the roof right of the highrise building in the centre of the picture)

Mast radiators on buildings are rare, as they show a bad radiation pattern.

An other one can be found on a castle at Campobasso in Italy


Mast radiator of Campobasso transmitter situated on an old castle ( http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/campobasso.html )

[M.K.]

Not exactly the same, but here you are, a lot of things like that in Sao Paulo, Paulista Avenue:


http://www.jornalentreposto.com.br/j...s/paulista.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...427f0281fq.jpg

more photos here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=529673

[Zerton]

Sao Paulo wins!

[ethereal_reality]

Sault Memorial Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario




The red-lighted beacon was lit on nights the Greyhounds played home games.

[ethereal_reality]

The Paramount Building (1929) in New York City.

photographer unknown.

The sphere on top of the tower consists of ninety squares of glass, and is nineteen feet in diameter. The ball was illuminated from within, and used to indicate the time. A corresponding number of white flashes noted the hour, while red flashes marked the quarter hour. The orb was visible from as far away as New Jersey and Long Island.

photographer unknown

photographer unknown

[ethereal_reality]

A couple more images of the Paramount Building in NYC


photographer unknown


photographer unknown

[ethereal_reality]

...just found this one.


photographer unknown

[ethereal_reality]

Here is a LARGER image of the Lasalle-Wacker Bldg, with the Palmolive Bldg in the background.
This beacon could be seen at a distance of 200 miles.


detail from a 1930s postcard