Tower of Americas, San Antonio (must see)

The Tower of the Americas is a 750-foot observation tower/restaurant in San Antonio. The tower was designed by San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford and was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair, HemisFair '68. The tower was the tallest observation tower in the United States from 1968 until 1996, when the Las Vegas Stratosphere Tower was completed. It is located in the middle of HemisFair Park and has an observation deck that is accessible by elevator for a fee. In addition, there is also a lounge and revolving restaurant at the top of the tower that provides panoramic views of the city.

The fastest recorded time up the tower's 952 steps is 5 minutes 18 seconds on January 29, 1981.

Construction of the tower began on August 9, 1966 and was completed in approximately 18 months, just in time for the opening ceremonies for the fair held on April 6, 1968. The tophouse of the building was constructed at ground level and hoisted to the top of the poured concrete shaft. As the tophouse was being hoisted into place, on October 30, 1967 some of the cables used to hoist it snapped, leaving it resting on and precariously tilted on the Tower’s shaft. Eventually, oil field pipes were used in lieu of cables to complete the job.