The Tower Life Building, formerly known as the Smith-Young Tower, in San Antonio, Texas is known for its historical background and its beautiful late Gothic Revival architecture. The building has had several names in the past: Pan American Building in 1938, San Antonio Transit Building in 1942, and was given the name that it has now in 1962, when it became the home of the Tower Life Insurance Company. The building is most commonly called either the Smith-Young Tower, its first name, or its current name, the Tower Life Building. The fourth tallest tower in the Alamo City, it stands at 404 feet tall and includes 30 stories and the recent addition of a 100 foot flagpole. Built over a two year period in 1927 and 1928, it was one of the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi until the 1950's and it was the tallest building in San Antonio for almost 60 years until the Tower of the Americas was built standing at 622 feet. .

             The building sports a late Gothic Revival style of architecture including gargoyles and a copper top house. Other Gothic features include stained glass windows, copper accents, the Gothic arch, and many more. This brick and terra-cotta tower was designed by local architectural firm Ayres & Ayres, specifically by San Antonio born Robert Moss Ayres who also designed, working with his father Olive Ayres, the Municipal Auditorium Downtown, which is now the home of the McNay Art Museum. The Tower Life Building is believed to be the only octagonal office building in the United States. The building was home to the first Sears Roebuck store in the Alamo City and among its other important tenants were Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Third U.S. Army who had offices in the Tower Life Building in 1941. One of the building's most interesting aspects, for the time that this building was constructed,is the addition of gargoyles to the top of the tower. In an area and a time frame that is strange for Gothic Revival architecture it is very interesting to see gargoyles on an office building from 1928.