Austin Fire Drill Tower
historic place
The Austin Fire Drill Tower, now known as Buford Tower, stands in Travis County, Austin, Texas. This historic place was constructed in 1930. It was designed by architects Hugo F. Kuehne and J. Roy White in the Italianate Style. The Rex D. Kitchens Construction Company built the tower. Originally, the six-story brick tower served as the city's first dedicated practice facility for the Austin Fire Department. Firefighters used it for training exercises, including testing hoses with water from the nearby Colorado River. The tower was a central part of firefighter training for over four decades. By 1974, the tower's use as a training facility declined as firefighting technology advanced and the surrounding downtown area became more developed and hazardous for training fires. The fire department decommissioned the tower that year. In 1978, efforts led by Effie Kitchens, the widow of the original builder, helped save the tower from demolition. It was renovated and officially rededicated on August 23, 1978, as Buford Tower and Kitchens Memorial Chimes. The tower was named in honor of Captain James L. Buford, an Austin firefighter who died in the line of duty in 1972. The carillon was named for Rex D. Kitchens. Today, Buford Tower functions as a bell tower and is a site for the Austin Firefighters Association's annual 9/11 memorial ceremony. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 11, 2016. The tower remains a historical landmark along Lady Bird Lake.