Landmark Tower Company

The Landmark Tower Company was based out of Fort Worth, Texas and founded by Henry “Hank” McGinnis. The company was known for designing and building a type of radio tower known by the same name.[1] McGinnis, who had previous experience building electric transmission line towers, evidently came up with the unique design while scribbling a Christian symbol of a fish on a napkin.[2]

Star Tower, the tallest Landmark tower to be built
Hughes Memorial Tower, the tallest structure in Washington DC
Another view of the Hughes Memorial Tower
Another example of the Landmark Tower design as seen from underneath

Tower design

The prototypical Landmark tower, also known as an Adelphon tower, is a tripod in shape with three legs that rise to meet each other about a third of the way up. The legs taper down from larger footings to a thinner middle and then expand again to the point where they meet. The outer cords continue all the way up to the top of the tower in one swoop, but the inner three loop around into each other, creating a central ovoid and voided core. Aside from its unique appearance, the Landmark tower design has several advantages compared to the typical free standing lattice tower, with less wind resistance and a reduced amount of steel required for construction.[3]

List of towers

The most well known example is the Star Tower, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The individual base leg columns were erected by crane, while the upper sections of the tower were built using a Sikorsky S-64 helicopter.[4] Numerous other Landmark towers can found across the United States, including the Mesquite Tower in Mesquite, Texas, the Hughes Memorial Tower in Washington, D.C., and, at a smaller scale, WPXR-TV's analog antenna on Poor Mountain in Virginia, and another atop the Energy Plaza skyscraper in downtown Dallas, used by TXU Energy for its communications needs. None are known to have been built outside of the United States. The Adelphon Tower Company (Henry McGinnis) wrote bankruptcy on Prime Contractor Pyramid Tower & others in 1991 as Star 64 was completed. Many others were listed in the Chapter 7. The Landmark Tower Company went bankrupt as Henry's wife attempted to continue after Henry McGinnis passed on in 2002.[5]

TowerYearCountryTownHeight mHeight ftRemarks
Star Tower 1991 USA Cincinnati, Ohio 291 m 954 ft Tallest Landmark Tower ever built, assembled by helicopter
Hughes Memorial Tower 1989 USA Washington, DC 232 m 761 ft Tallest structure in Washington DC
WCCV TV Tower, also known as; Torre Yiye Avila 1991 USA Utuado, Puerto Rico 167 m 548 ft Formerly the tallest freestanding structure in Puerto Rico. Collapsed caused by Hurricane Maria September 2017[6]
WLLY Tower[7][8] 1995[9] USA Mangonia Park, Florida 158.2 m 519 ft
Mesquite Tower 1990 USA Mesquite, Texas 155.3 m 509.5 ft
Cumulus Media Tower[10][11] <2002 USA Shreveport, Louisiana 152 m 499 ft
Tower at 3551 J.R. Lynch Street (Extension)[12] <1996 USA Jackson, Mississippi 152 m 499 ft
Telecourier Communications Tower[13] 1989 USA Bloomington, Illinois 152 m 418 ft
WPXR TV Tower[14][15][16][17] <1996 USA Roanoke County, Virginia 74.5 m 244 ft Poor Mountain Tower removed by 2017
Energy Plaza  ? USA Dallas, Texas 33 m 108 ft
Ministerio Cristo Viene Tower USA Utuado, Puerto Rico shorter landmark tower of unknown height [18]

See also

References
  1. "Henry J. McGinnis Obituary (2002) the Dallas Morning News".
  2. John Kelly (2014-05-25) [2014-05-24]. "D.C.'s tallest tower is named for a former police officer and has a secret Jesus fish built into its design". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  3. https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/ohio-transmission-tower-as-object-of-beauty_o
  4. "Building the Star Tower with Helicopter".
  5. http://www.wirelessestimator.com/t_content.cfm?pagename=Wireless%20Tower%20News
  6. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Ávila Antenna in roncador Utuado. YouTube.
  7. "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  8. "WLLY-FM 99.5 MHZ - Palm Beach Gardens, FL".
  9. John Kelly (2014-05-25) [2014-05-24]. "D.C.'s tallest tower is named for a former police officer and has a secret Jesus fish built into its design". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  10. http://worldradiomap.com/us-la/shreveport
  11. "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  12. "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  13. "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  14. "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  15. "A selection from a decade of visits to tower and studio sites in the Northeast and beyond".
  16. "A selection from a decade of visits to tower and studio sites in the Northeast and beyond".
  17. "TV Query Results -- Video Division (FCC) USA".
  18. "Ministerio Cristo Viene · Carretara Rd 2 Km 96, Carr Puerto Rico 2, Membrillo, 00627, Puerto Rico".
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