A “Texas tower” is another name for a radar tower. The name derives from a resemblance to the Texas oil rig towers in the Gulf of Mexico.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
Texas Tower [so called from its resemblance to a Texas oil rig], one of a chain of radar towers built along the eastern coast of the U.S.
1954 Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News 13 Aug. 3 (caption) Here is a closeup of a section of one of the ‘*Texas Towers’..being built offshore along the Atlantic coast. Towers, named for oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, will be built along the continental shelf.
2 August 1954, Washington Post, “Chain of Radar Warning Stations To Be Built on Towers Off East Coast,” pg. 1:
A chain of offshore radar warning stations, called “Texas towers” after the Gulf of Mexico oil well rigs, will be built along the East coast for $35 million, the Air Force disclosed yesterday.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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