For years, the landmark tower was surrounded by and part of the Emerson Drug Company with its office headquarters and manufacturing plant for the carbonated headache pain relief tablets or powder Bromo-Seltzer.

Built in the Brutalist architecture style of poured concrete, the station has lines echoing the surviving tower to its south and west.

[7] The design of the tower along with the original factory building at its base was inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, which was seen by Emerson during a tour of Europe in 1900.

Installed by the Seth Thomas Clock Company at an original cost of US$3,965, they are made of translucent white glass and feature the letters B-R-O-M-O S-E-L-T-Z-E-R, with the Roman numerals being less prominent.

The tower was virtually abandoned in 2002, but in early 2007 the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and philanthropists Eddie and Sylvia Brown worked to transform the structure into artist studios.

The Baltimore Fire Department's John F. Steadman Memorial Station, which opened in 1973 and is situated at the tower's base, houses BCFD Hazmat 1, Airflex 1, Medic1, Medic 23, MAC23, Engine 23, Rescue 1, and formerly Truck 2.