Mill Mountain Star

Roanoke, Virginia

Cost to build:$28,000
Height: 88.5 feet

Height of steel
support structure:
100 feet

Height above city:
1,045 feet

Height above sea
level: 1,847 feet

Neon tubing length:
2,000 feet

Current consumed:
17,500 watts per hour
burning only in white.
When it glows only in
red (which it has not
done in a couple of
years), it uses
one-fourth that amount
of juice.

Annual electric bill:
About $1,050.

Visibility from air: 60
miles
Designers: Roy C.
Kinsey (neon), Robert
L. Little (structural
steel)

Owner: Roanoke
Merchants
Association, 1949-82;
City of Roanoke,
1982-present

First illuminated:
Thanksgiving Eve,
Nov. 23, 1949, 8:22
p.m.

Renovations: 1971
(structure painted and
repaired)

1979 (star painted)

1987 (structure
painted)

1997 (Improvements
to neon tubing, wiring,
metal work and paint)

Is it turned off at
night?: An automatic
timer illuminates the
star at 6 p.m. and turns
it off at midnight.

Businesses in the
Roanoke phone book
with the words “Star
City” in their names: 35
(No. of business with
“Magic City” in their
names: 4)