My self-assignment for this image was to see how small a slice of the Tower of the Americas I could get while still conveying what it was.

But you may be wondering what this even is. Good thing I have some facts to share:

• It’s an observation tower that was built for the 1968 San Antonio HemisFair.
• Construction started in 1966.
• O’Neil Ford, who lived and worked in San Antonio was the architect.
• The top house, containing observation decks and a restaurant, was built at ground level and then hoisted to the top of the concrete shaft, inch by inch, using twenty-four steel lifting rods. This process took twenty days.
• The fastest recorded time up the tower’s 952 steps is 5 minutes 18 seconds on January 29, 1981, by Tommy Johnson.
• Or you could take the elevator.

San Antonio, Texas
photographed 10.5.2026