It’s there for every Gone to Texas and commencement celebration, in the background of graduation photos and everyday walks around campus. The Tower stands as an unwavering symbol of UT’s history and tradition of excellence. As the Tower undergoes a historic restoration, we’re diving deeper into all the facts and figures that make the Tower the icon it’s been for the past (almost) 89 years.

307

How tall in feet the Tower stands.

20 

The number of years the Tower was the highest building in Austin. Although technically the State Capitol building was taller, the Tower’s position on a hill made it higher, until skyscrapers began their ascent in downtown Austin during the 1970s.

12 

Seals of other universities on the Tower (Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Salamanca, Cambridge, Heidelberg, Mexico, Edinburgh, Harvard, Virginia, Michigan and Vassar). Each was selected for its relevance or influence on UT, as written about here by historian Jim Nicar.

5 

Alphabets on the Tower: Egyptian, Phonetician, Hebrew, Greek, Latin/Roman, made up of 113 cast-iron panels made at a foundry in Dallas.

1,725,000

The book-stack capacity detailed in a description of the Tower written by Dr. William Battle shortly after the Tower was built.

133 

Light fixtures to make the Tower shine orange.

88

Number of years the Tower has been lit, coincidentally also how old the Tower is. On Oct. 19, 1937, the Tower was lit for the first time, shining entirely orange and supposedly seen all the way up to Round Rock and down to San Marcos.

27

Floors in the Tower. Plus 55 more stairs for carillonneurs to reach the clock face and bells.

56

Bells in the carillon. There were only 17 bells until 1985, when Hedwig Kniker left an estate gift to purchase and install 22 more bells. When two of the bells wouldn’t fit in the elevator, UT decided to purchase more bells in the upper register, adding a completed total of 39 to the original 17.

7,350

The weight in pounds of the heaviest bell (low B flat 2). The lightest bell (high G7) weighs only 20 pounds!

7

Number of students currently in the Guild of Carillonneurs, a group of students who take turns playing both traditional and nontraditional carillon arrangements. 

50+

Years of Tom Anderson’s carillon tenure. Before the student guild took over, alumnus Tom Anderson spent four years during his time as an undergrad in the 1950s playing the bells, returning in 1967 to play the bells each day until he retired in 2013.

$2,800,000

How much it cost to build the Tower in 1937, equivalent to $62.2 million in 2025.

30

Years since the first firework show at the Tower for commencement in 1995.