HARRIETTA TOWER
Wexford County
June 18, 1925: "Wexford county boasts the only woman in the state employed in the forest fire tower system.
At Harrietta, Charles S. Ogden, an old pioneer, employed as tower watchman, died recently and his daughter, Miss Ilia Ogden, succeeded him.
The first tower erected in Harrietta in 1924 was under the charge of Ogden. His health failed. When he was unable to be on duty his daughter would take his place. Miss Ogden has now been appointed permanently to the Herrietta tower.
Miss Ogden, from her tower, can see strips of eight counties." (The Herald-Press)
At Harrietta, Charles S. Ogden, an old pioneer, employed as tower watchman, died recently and his daughter, Miss Ilia Ogden, succeeded him.
The first tower erected in Harrietta in 1924 was under the charge of Ogden. His health failed. When he was unable to be on duty his daughter would take his place. Miss Ogden has now been appointed permanently to the Herrietta tower.
Miss Ogden, from her tower, can see strips of eight counties." (The Herald-Press)
December 15, 1925: "Miss Lydia Ogden, Michigan's only fire towerwoman, who spends her hours from dawn to dusk 65 feet above ground overlooking a forest wilderness, won her appointment as a regular employe of the Conservation Department because of her fine record when guarding the tower during the long illness of her father, the late Charles Ogden of Harrietta, Wexford county.
Miss Ogden, a university girl and a truly feminine young woman of 23, bobs her hair, uses a powder puff, and wears khaki knicker, when on duty, which she is daily during the season from April 15 to the call closing, usually October 15. This year it was extended, owing to the drought and the raging forest fires in the north. Rainy days are holidays, however.
Her office is the top of the tower, 65 feet in the air, a room seven feet square, enclosed four feet up from the floor, with 32 glass windows above the enclosure. She climbs it on the ladder that runs up the side, dinner pail in one hand, and hoists her flag when she reaches the top. The flag is the signal of the towerman's presence in the fire tower, and is furled when the towerman descends. Off in the distance a field man is watching, and he calls on the phone frequently." (Lansing State Journal)
July 25, 1930: "Two towers are being moved in Wexford County. The Harietta Tower will be moved to a higher site to cover the area now covered by it, and the Selma Tower. The Selma Tower will be moved to a place in the vicinity of Cadillac." (Oxford Leader)
May 21, 1931: "The fire tower which has been located at Harrietta for several years is being moved five miles north on the old state road toward Mesick and now will top Old Briar hill, the highest peak in this part of the country. Arthur Hansen is the keeper. Fire Warden George Luhrs and a gang of men are doing the moving." (Suttons Bay Courier)