Tower 40 Photo by Jim King (8/6/2005)
The illustrations below are taken from Sanborn Fire
Insurance maps of Luling drawn in 1929 and 1941. The first map is a
magnification of the
index of the 1929 map showing the crossing of the two railroads in west Luling.
The SAAP ran north/south and the SP ran east/west. The next map shows the
actual location of the tower in the southwest quadrant of the crossing in 1929.
Sometime between 1929 and 1941 the street names were changed to their
current usage, and the third map, drawn in 1941, clearly identifies the cross
street as Mesquite. It also shows that by this date, the SAAP route to the south
had
been abandoned. The fourth map, also from 1941, shows that a "Filling Sta" has
been opened on the corner of Mesquite St. and that the station has a single
story in front and a second story in back, matching the view of the modified
tower that we see today. The fifth map is a current street map of Luling showing
the
tower location.
Index of 1929 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Luling -- Tower 40 was located at
the rail junction near
the large "8" (which was a page number for a detailed map of that area)
Detail from page 8 of the 1929 map showing Tower 40 located in the southwest
quadrant of the crossing -- further magnification
shows that the printing on the map beneath the tower is not legible due to
insufficient resolution when the Sanborn map was digitized.
Based on the shape of the initial letters and the length of the words, it
appears to have been "Railroad Tower".
Index of the 1941 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Luling showing Mesquite St.
as the
north-south cross street where the SAAP/SP crossing was located.
Detail from the 1941 map showing a "Filling Sta" (with a 2-story structure in
back) located on the corner
of Mesquite St. where Tower 40 remains today.
