COBURN MOUNTAIN #16
Somerset County - Maine Forestry District
1910: Established with a wood tower. (From the photo inventory of the Maine Historical Society)
1910: "Fourteen miles of tree telephone were put up from Mt. Coburn to West Forks and by arrangements made for temporary use with H.P. McKenney gives the Forestry District free service of his line to Jackman, Attean and Spencer." (1910 Forest Commissioner's Report)
1914: A 24 foot steel tower with a cab was constructed. (From the photo inventory of the Maine Historical Society)
1919: "The tower on Mount Coburn newly painted. We built a camp 10 by 12 feet at the foot of Mount Coburn lookout station and installed a new telephone instrument in it, as there are windy days when it is very difficult for the watchman to hear from the tower." (Forest Protection and Conservation in Maine, 1919)
March 10, 1920: "J.B. Comber of Caratunk, the chief fire warden for the east side of the Kennebec river, in his annual report which was also filed at the State Forestry Department Tuesday says in part.
'We built a camp 10 by 12 feet at the foot of Mt. Coburn Lookout Station and installed a new telephone instrument in it, as there are windy days when it is very difficult for the watchman to hear from the tower.'" (Daily Kennebec Journal)
1920: Inventory shows a 24-foot steel tower.
1938: During the winter the cab was crushed by a heavy ice build-up, the cab was replaced. (From the photo inventory of the Maine Historical Society)