Talk:Gulf Tower

Top Illumination
I'm certain of this, but I'm going there in s few days and I'll stop in and try to get a photograph to back this up.

The weather beacon has two indicators and is counterintuitive. For fair weather it is red and for inclement weather, it is blue. When the temperature is rising it does not flash, and when it is falling it flashes.

The beacon does not change based on barometric pressure (see below) or any other instrumentation. There is a switch on the wall near the guard desk, and the guard decides where the switch should be set.

Matthew Grebner Grebner (talk) 19:00, 16 December 2009 (UTC)


 * I work in the Gulf Tower. I have been on the roof.  A peregrine falcon almost attacked me.  --SW


 * The beacon on top of the tower forecast the weather at least into the mid-80s, if not the early 90s. I last lived in Pittsburgh in '93 and I think it was still functioning. The Westinghouse sign was still going too. PurpleChez 01:38, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Top Illumination (2)
There seems to be some confusion about the top of the former Gulf Building in Pittsburgh, which is now the Gulf Tower condos.

Having grown up in Pittsburgh during the '50's and '60s, and having lived there through the '70s, I can tell you that the entire step-pyramid structure on top of the building was illuminated with neon and changed color with changes in barometric pressure -- not just the beacon at the pinnacle. I've added this to the article, along with a supporting link.

At some point, probably in the late '70s, they stopped illuminating the entire pyramid structure -- but kept the color-changing weather beacon at the peak. More recently, they've apparently resumed illuminating the entire pyramid, but it may be only standard floodlights (I haven't been back there in many years).

In any case, many Internet links mention the beacon, but not the fact that the entire pyramid structure (several stories tall) was illuminated and changed color. The link I added supports it, but someone might want to do some additional research. I'm sure there are many archive photos out there showing the entire top illuminated in red or blue. --NameThatWorks 19:22, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Top Illumination (3)
I'm sorry I don't have hard references to back this up, but I've been told many times that during WWII our planes would use the top illumination of the Gulf Tower as a reference for navigation and that it would blink in Morse code "PITTSBURGH" so they knew what city they were over. Someone please back me up on this one. I guess I'll go to the library to find the hard evidence to reference to. The Grant building is the building with the old radio tower which blinks Pittsburgh at night time in Morse code. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.253.44.113 (talk) 20:39, 7 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Loved reading about the new illuminations. Thank you. PurpleChez (talk) 14:34, 7 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Thank you! Having grown up in Pittsburgh as well, I was taught that the beacon atop the tower flashed "WELCOME TO PITTSBURGH" in Morse code. Yours was the only reference I could find regarding this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.186.41.85 (talk) 04:41, 1 May 2017 (UTC)


 * The Morse code "Pittsburgh" (when it's not malfunctioning) is indeed atop the GRANT Building, not the Gulf Building, as the commenter at the top of this third section partially mentions; and it is merely the one word, not a "Welcome to..." message. 2601:545:8201:6290:6D15:8728:F2B9:6EB5 (talk) 22:10, 26 November 2019 (UTC)