This video premiered at the ATXplained Live show at Bass Concert Hall on April 29, 2025.
Austin's iconic moontowers were erected in the 1890s as part of the city's first street light system. Seventeen of the original 31 still stand today — 165 feet above the ground.
If you look closely at one of the towers, you’ll see the telltale signs of a pulley system — the original way workers scaled the towers daily to change out the lights.
Justin Clemens was curious about who changes the bulbs these days, so he reached out to KUT’s ATXplained project.
KUT spoke with UT Austin professor and researcher Bruce Hunt to find out more about the origins of the towers. We then went straight to the source of electricity in Austin — Austin Energy — to speak to the man in charge of the linemen who continue to scale the towers today.
Spoiler: They don’t use the pulley system anymore, and the quick-burning arc lights have been replaced with LED bulbs.
