Overview

Summertime signals the return of the popular escorted twilight tours of the University of Texas Tower. Enjoy sweeping vistas of campus and the surrounding Austin community from the Tower's deck, as sunset fades to amber hues and city lights twinkle across the horizon. History and crime buffs will also appreciate this tour. It's the site of the notorious killing spree meted out by Charles Whitman on August 1, 1966. Using the tower as a sniper's perch, Whitman opened fire on unsuspecting people below, killing fourteen innocent victims in ninety minutes. Oliver Stone in Natural Born Killers (1994) makes reference to this dark day in Texas Tower history.