In December 2002, Ryan John Hartley climbed the tower and jumped from about halfway up, resulting in his death, which was ruled a suicide.

[3] On the morning of September 13, 2008, during Hurricane Ike, the top of the tower was damaged near the rotating beacon and many windows were blown out.

[4] The building was originally named for its major tenant, Transco Energy corporation, now part of the Williams Companies, the tower's current namesake.

[2][8] The building was built to function as two separate towers stacked directly on top of one another, one comprising the first forty floors and the other the forty-first to sixty-fourth.

Williams Tower was named "Skyscraper of the Century" in the December 1999 issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

[10] Paul Goldberger of The New York Times said that the tower gave Post Oak Boulevard "a center, an anchor, which most out-towns lack".

During the nighttime hours, the building is defined by a 7,000 watt beacon that sweeps across the sky and can be seen up to 40 miles (65 km) away on a clear night.

[3] The top four angles of the building form cat-like shapes with tails that run down all the way to street level.