United States tallest structures
The height of structures in the United States has historically been poorly documented. However the data is a matter of public
record, appearing in documents maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission.
This category is populated heavily by antenna masts. The engineering aspects of
super-tall masts are highly specialized. Only four companies erect the majority of such structures: Doty Moore Tower Services
(Cedar Hill, TX); Klein Towers (Columbia, SC); LeBlanc Royal Telecom (Oakville, ON); and Stainless Inc. (North Wales, PA). The
design and construction are largely governed by RS222E EIA standards. A 1000 ft (305 m) mast
costs between $0.7 and $1.1 million to build, while a 2000 ft (610 m) mast costs $2.4 to $4 million. Prices generally vary
depending on tower capacity and wind loading specifications.
A common misperception is that landmarks such as the Stratosphere Tower are the tallest United States structures, but they are in fact the tallest
buildings. Likewise Taipei 101 is often misrepresented as the world's
tallest structure, but in fact is far eclipsed by antenna towers in over a dozen states in the United States.
In the United States, the FAA and
the FCC must approve all towers
exceeding 200 ft (61 m) high. Furthermore, a prejudice exists against structures over 2000 ft (610 m) high. The FCC presumes them
to be inconsistent with the public interest, while the FAA presumes them to be a hazard to air navigation, resulting in poor
airspace usage. A significant burden of proof is placed on the applicant to show that such a structure is in the public's best
interests. Only when both agencies have resolved all legal, safety, and management concerns is such an application approved.
Since 1978 the United States has maintained eleven tethered aerostats sites
along the southern borders. These balloons rise to 18,000 ft (5500 m), carrying radar units for drug interdiction purposes.
However since the balloons are aided by buoyancy and are not permanent they are not considered true structures.
Related articles
State-by-state listing
Alabama
- WTTO Television Tower (Birmingham WB-21)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Windham
Springs (33° 28' 51" 087° 24' 03")
- Year built: 1962 Owner: Capstar
- At 2000 ft (610 m), this structure ties about a dozen others across the United States as the fifth tallest structure in the
world.
Alaska
- LORAN-C
facility antenna
- Height: 1350 ft (411 m)
- Port Clarence (65° 14' 40" 166° 53' 12")
- Year built: ? Owner: U.S. Coast Guard
- This tower puts out 1 megawatt of long-wave radio energy to help ships in the Gulf of Alaska and the North Pacific navigate.
LORSTA (Loran Station) Port Clarence is currently being studied with a view toward refurbishment or replacement, and if the
latter will be dismantled. The runner up in Alaska for height is the 808 ft (246 m) public telecommunications tower at Knik near
Anchorage (61 25'N 149 52'W).
Arizona
- Navajo
Generating Station
- Height: 775 ft (236 m)
- Page (36° 54' 12" 111° 23' 25")
- Year built: 1972 Owner: Salt River Project
- The Navajo coal-fired power plant, generating up to 2250 MW of power, is located 4 miles (6 km) east of Page, and boasts
three 775 ft (236 m) reinforced concrete chimneys. In 1991 the EPA faulted the station for producing haze around the Grand
Canyon, and in 1994 a study was done to investigate demolition requirements. However the studies never reached fruition. The
tallest radio tower is the 650 ft (198 m) KOAZ-FM (97.5) tower in Marana near Tucson.
Arkansas
- KTVE Television Tower (El Dorado NBC 10)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Bolding (33° 04'
41" 092° 13' 41")
- Year built: 1987 Owner: Grapevine Communications
California
- KXTV/KOVR Television Tower (Sacramento)
- Height: 2007 ft (612 m)
- Walnut Grove (38° 14' 24" 121° 30' 07")
- Year built: 2000 Owner: Gannett/Sinclair
- This is the fourth tallest structure in the world, just behind structures in North Dakota and Texas. KXTV is ABC 10, while
KOVR is CBS 13, all for Sacramento and Stockton. The tower has been used for research ozone sampling at different heights.
Colorado
- Radio communications tower
- Height: 1996 ft (608 m)
- Hoyt (39° 55' 22" 103°
58' 18")
- Year built: 2003 Owner: Hunt Media Group
- The primary reason for the tower is to get radio stations who do not have license for the Denver area to get into the Denver
area (big advertising bucks). According to Raymond Morris, "I was the previous owner of the land on which the tower was located.
I was trying to negotiate a lease with them, but the going got tough and I ended up selling 367.3 acres [1.5 km²] from a larger
piece of land, (4000 feet x 4000 feet) [1.2 by 1.2 km]."
Connecticut
- WTIC Television Tower (Hartford Fox 61)
- Height: 1339 ft (408 m)
- Farmington (41° 42' 13" 072° 49' 55")
- Year built: 1984 Owner: Communications Site Management LLC
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
- WCTV Television Tower (Tallahassee CBS 6)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Metcalf (30° 40' 14"
083° 56' 26")
- Year built: 1987 Owner: Gray Midamerica TV
- At 2000 ft (610 m), this structure ties about a dozen others across the United States as the fifth tallest structure in the
world.
Hawaii
- Navy VLF Antenna
Farm
- Height: 1503 ft (458 m)
- Lualualei (21° 25'
22" 158° 09' 01")
- Year built: 1972 Owner: U.S. Navy / ROICC Pearl Harbor
- The record-holder is held by two towers, exactly identical, that reach 1503 ft (458 m) in height. They are used to
communicate with submarines throughout the Pacific basin. The second tallest structure is the KHON-TV (Honolulu Fox 2) tower at
500 ft (152 m) located at 21 17' 28" 157 50' 08".
Idaho
- KMVT Television
Tower (Twin Falls CBS 11)
- Height: 682 ft (208 m)
- Jerome (42° 43' 47" 114° 24' 55")
- Year built: 1961 Owner: KMVT Broadcasting
Illinois
- Sears Tower
- Height: 1730 ft (527 m)
- Chicago (41° 52' 44" 087° 38' 10")
- Year built: 1976 Owner: TrizecHahn Office Properties
Indiana
Iowa
- WOI Television Tower (Des Moines ABC 5)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Alleman (41° 48' 33" 093° 36' 54")
- Year built: 1972 Owner: NYT Broadcast Holdings LLC
Kansas
- KWCH Television Tower (Wichita CBS 12)
- Height: 1501 ft (458 m)
- Burrton (38° 03' 38" 097° 45' 50")
- Year built: 1963 Owner: Media General Operations
- This was KTVH-TV until 1983, when it became KWCH-TV. Signal also broadcast on DT on Ch 19.
Kentucky
Louisiana
- WCKW/KSTE Radio Tower (New Orleans 92.3/104.1 FM)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Vacherie (29°
57' 11" 090° 43' 26") Year built: 1986 Owner: Clear Channel Broadcasting
- At 2000 ft (610 m), this structure ties about a dozen others across the United States as the fifth tallest structure in the
world.
Maine
- WMTW Television Tower (Portland ABC 8)
- Height: 1667 ft (508 m)
- Baldwin (43° 50' 44" 070° 45' 41")
- Year built: 2001 Owner: Harron Communications
- This tower was built in 2001 to replace WMTW's transmitting facility atop Mount Washington (read about the perils of this
site here). It began transmitting on February 5, 2002. The second tallest structure is the WGME (CBS-13) tower in Portland, which
measures 1624 ft (495 m).
Maryland
- WBFF Television Tower (Baltimore Fox 45)
- Height: 1280 ft (390 m)
- Baltimore (39° 20' 10" 076° 38' 58")
- Year built: 1987 Owner: Cunningham Communications
- Second highest is WMDT-TV ABC/47 (Salisbury) at 1027 ft (313 m), near Sharptown.
Massachusetts
Michigan
- WEYI Television Tower (Saginaw NBC 25)
- Height: 1359 ft (414 m)
- Clio (43° 13' 01" 083° 43' 17")
- Year built: 1972 Owner: Smith Television
Minnesota
- KPXM Television (Minneapolis PAX 41)
- Height: 1505 ft (459 m)
- Big Lake (45° 23' 00" 093° 42' 31")
- Year built: 1997 Owner: Paxson Minneapolis / KXLI
- This station is licensed to St. Cloud; attempts to cover both that city and Minneapolis/St. Paul from a site between the two
cities; and was formerly known as KXLI-TV.
Mississippi
- WLBT Television Tower (Jackson NBC 3)
- Height: 1998 ft (609 m)
- Raymond (32° 12' 50" 090° 22' 57")
- Year built: 1999 Owner: Cosmos Broadcasting
Missouri
- KOZK Television Tower (Springfield PBS 21)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Fordland (37° 10' 11" 092° 56' 31")
- Year built: 1971 Owner: SW Missouri State University
- At 2000 ft (610 m), this structure ties about a dozen others across the United States as the fifth tallest structure in the
world.
Montana
Nebraska
- KLKN Television Tower (Lincoln ABC 8)
- Height: 1854 ft (565 m)
- Genoa (41° 32' 28" 097° 40' 46")
- Year built: 1969 Owner: Citadel Communications
- The KDUH-TV tower of 1965 ft (599 m) at Hemingford, NE collapsed in early 2003 during reinforcement work. A replacement tower
about 20 miles (30 km) away was completed in September 2003. The replacement tower is 160 m (about 500 ft) shorter than the
original. KXVO and KPTM in Omaha (which are co-owned) have a FCC construction permit to build a taller tower that would put their
antennas 577 m (roughly 1900 ft) up.
Nevada
- BREN Tower
- Height: 1527 ft (465 m)
- Nevada Test Site (36° 46' 48" 116° 14' 33")
- Year built: 1962 Owner: Department of Energy
- The BREN Tower, located in Jackass Flats (Area 25) of the Nevada Test Site, is a mast that was built for nuclear radiation
testing. The 345 ton structure was constructed by Columbus, Ohio based Dresser-Ideco in 1962. It was originally erected in
Yucca Flat (Area 4) before being
dismantled in 1966 and moved to Area 25. The mast is owned by the Department of Energy and maintained by Bechtel. The second
tallest structure in Nevada is the Stratosphere Tower near
downtown Las Vegas, which was erected in 1994-96 and reaches 1149 ft (350 m) and
921 ft (281 m) without the mast.
New Hampshire
- Abandoned television tower
- Height: 663 ft (202 m)
- Winchester (42° 45' 35" 072° 25' 59")
- Year built: 1966 Owner: Gunn Mountain Communications
- Formerly was used for WRLP-32. Antenna and transmitter site has been abandoned since 1978.
New Jersey
- WWSI Television Tower (Philadelphia Telemundo 62)
- Height: 1000 ft (304.8 m)
- Tuckerton (39° 37' 53" 074° 21' 10")
- Year built: 2000 Owner: Hispanic Broadcasters of Philadelphia
New Mexico
New York
- Empire State Building
- Height: 1453 ft (443 m)
- New York City (40° 44' 54" 073° 59' 09")
- Year built: 1931 Owner: Empire State Building
- Antennas used by WCBS (CBS 2), WNBC (NBC 4), WNYW (Fox 5), WABC (ABC 7), WPIX (WB 11), and more. Many of these sites were
moved here after the 9/11/01 World Trade Center destruction.
North Carolina
- WBTV Television Tower (Charlotte CBS 3)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Dallas (35° 21' 51" 081° 11' 12")
- Year built: 1984 Owner: Jefferson Pilot Communications
North Dakota
- KVLY Television Tower (Fargo NBC 11)
- Height: 2063 ft (629 m)
- Blanchard (47° 20' 32" 097° 17' 21")
- Year built: 1963 Owner: Meyer Broadcasting
- This tower was known as the KTHI Television Tower until June 1995. It is the single tallest structure in the world, eclipsed
only from 1974 to 1991 by the Warsaw Radio mast in Poland. North Dakota also has the second tallest structure in the world: the
2060 ft (628 m) KXJB-TV tower at Galesburg.
Ohio
- WNWO Television Tower (Toledo NBC 24)
- Height: 1437 ft (438 m)
- Jerusalem (41° 40' 03" 083° 21' 22")
- Year built: 1983 Owner: Malrite Communications Group
Oklahoma
Oregon
- KPDX Television
Tower (Portland UPN 49)
- Height: 1081 ft (329 m)
- Portland (45° 31' 22" 122° 45' 11")
- Year built: 1994 Owner: KPDX-TV (Fox 49) / Meredith Corporation
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
- WLNE Television
Tower (Providence ABC 6)
- Height: 1001 ft (305 m)
- Tiverton (41° 35' 48" 071° 11' 22")
- Year built: 1965 Owner: Freedom Communications
South Carolina
- WCSC Television Tower (Charleston CBS 5)
- Height: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Awendaw (32° 55' 29" 079° 41' 57")
- Year built: 1986 Owner: Jefferson Pilot Communications
South Dakota
- KDLT Television Tower (Sioux Falls NBC 46)
- Height: 1999 ft (609 m)
- Rowena (43° 30' 18" 096° 33' 23")
- Year built: 1998 Owner: Red River Broadcast LLC
Tennessee
- WIMZ-FM Tower
- Height: 1752 ft (534 m)
- Knoxville (36° 08' 06" 083° 43' 29")
- Year built: 1966 Owner: South Central Communications
- The tower is home to WIMZ-FM 103.5. The antenna itself is located 1570 ft (479 m) AGL, about 180 ft (55 m) below the top.
When used for television broadcasts it was shielded by mountains from the important audience in Knoxville, and especially those
in the larger western suburbs like Farragut, Oak Ridge, and Oliver Springs.
Texas
- KLDE Radio Tower (Houston 107.5 FM Oldies)
- Height: 2018 ft (615 m)
- Liverpool (29° 17' 17" 095° 13' 54")
- Year built: 1986 Owner: Clear Channel Broadcasting
- This is the third highest structure in the world, behind only two television towers in North Dakota.
Utah
- Kennecott
Smokestack
- Height: 1215 ft (370 m)
- Garfield (40° 43' 18"
112° 11' 52")
- Year built: 1978 Owner: Kennecott Copper Corporation
- This incredibly tall smokestack was designed to help the Garfield smelter comply with the Clean Air Act. It is a prominent structure along the shore of the Great Salt Lake adjacent to Interstate 80, about 10 miles (16 km) west of Salt Lake City. The smokestack rises to an altitude of 5540 ft
(1,689 m) MSL. The tallest non-smokestack structure is a 660 ft (201 m) radio mast near Plain City, owned by the Bible
Broadcasting Network.
Vermont
- WKDR Radio Tower
(Burlington News/Talk 1390)
- Height: 445 ft (136 m)
- Burlington (44° 29' 47" 073° 12' 49")
- Year built: 1981 Owner: Hometown Broadcasting
Virginia
Washington
- Bank of America Tower
- Height: 967 ft (295 m)
- Seattle, 701 Fifth Avenue (47° 36' 16" 122° 16'
48")
- Year built: 1982-85 Owner: Equity Office Properties
- The Bank of America building was intended to be 1005 ft (306 m) tall but was disapproved by the FAA. It was built in 1982-85
and has 76 floors. The tallest antenna tower is the 940 ft (287 m) KREM (CBS-2) tower at Spokane.
West Virginia
- WOWK Television
Tower (Huntington-Charleston CBS 13)
- Height: 1112 ft (339 m)
- Huntington (38° 30' 21" 082° 12' 33")
- Year built: 1975 Owner: West Virginia Media Holdings
- Became the top tower by default after the 2003 collapse of the WVAH tower. The FCC
database lists a Huntington tower at 1158 ft (353 m) but does not indicate that it was constructed. The WVAH tower of 1551 ft
(473 m) at Scott Depot collapsed around 10:15 am on February 19, 2003 due to excessive loading from ice during a winter storm. WVAH was the Fox 11 affiliate. The
tower was located at N38 25' 15" W81 55' 26", and was built around 1980.
Wisconsin
Wyoming
- LORAN-C
facility antenna
- Height: 700 ft (213 m)
- Gillette (44° 00' 11" 105° 37' 24")
- Year built: ? Owner: U.S. Coast Guard
- A Coast Guard site in Wyoming is part of the worldwide LORAN marine navigation
network, which is gradually becoming obsolete due to GPS. The tower is especially useful to
ships plying the Great Lakes. The antenna puts out 540 kW of power
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