In 1889 Mr John Bickerstaffe, an hotelier and town councilor, was made Mayor of Blackpool, a popular seaside holiday town in the northwest of England.
Later that same year on a trip to France with his family to see the Great Paris Exhibition he saw the Eiffel tower, so called after its creator Gustav Eiffel, and a dream was born.
Blackpool at that time was in the process of becoming the number one holiday destination for the UK and Bickerstaffe saw that a tower similar to the Eiffel tower could become a fantastic crowd puller.
On February 19th 1891 the Blackpool Tower Company was formed with Bickerstaffe investing 2,000 GBP of his own money.
Two architects Messers Maxwell and Tuke from the city of Manchester were commissioned.
The laying of the foundation stone took place in September of that year.
The work was completed in three years at a cost in the region of 290,000 GBP.
The Blackpool Tower was opened to the public on Whit Sunday, May 14th 1894, with the price of entry set at sixpence with an additional six pence for the ride to the top.
In 1897 the platform at the top of the tower caught fire and it was reported that the flames could be seen from fifty miles away.
That same year work began on the Tower Ballroom.
Designed by Frank Matcham, who also was responsible for the Grand Theatre, it opened in 1899 The Tower was ill maintained for the first thirty years and due to corrosion and between 1921 and1924 all the steelwork in the construction had to be replaced but at least this avoided the complete demolition that had at first been discussed.
In the early 1900s the tower was home to a small town situated in the roof gardens which was home to a company of midgets who performed as the Blackpool Tower Midget Show.
The town boasted its own town hall, post office, garage and sports club plus accommodation for the company.
Blackpool Tower stands 518ft 9ins above the Lancashire coast.