LAUREL
Sussex County
1931: "Work on the erection of the towers was started on July 29, 1931 and completed October 15 when the towers were opened for service. The towers are normally open but 2 1/2 months in Spring and 2 months in the Fall or a total of 4 1/2 months of the years; the length of each period being largely dependent on weather conditions and the possibility of forest fires.
All towers are of a steel construction with inside wooden stairway leading to a 7 foot square cabin; the upper half of which is enclosed in glass. They are 100 feet in height from the ground to the bottom of the cabin floor or 110 feet over all. The top is of beacon type construction providing a hurricane deck which not only shades the steel roof but may sometime serve for triangulation surveying or aeroplane beacon installation.
The Laurel tower is situated on a 45-foot elevation north of the Georgetown-Laurel State Highway on the Midnight Thicket-Concord road; being approximately 2 1/2 miles northeast of Laurel.
Site and improvement ----------------------------------$72.85
Erection of tower---------------------------------------1,668.20
Equipment---------------------------------------------------95.30
Telephone connection--------------------------------------5.00
Total------------------------------------------------------- 1,841.35
+ Cost of tower----------------------------------------$8,103.98" " (2nd Annual Report of the State Forester FYs 1931 & 32)
All towers are of a steel construction with inside wooden stairway leading to a 7 foot square cabin; the upper half of which is enclosed in glass. They are 100 feet in height from the ground to the bottom of the cabin floor or 110 feet over all. The top is of beacon type construction providing a hurricane deck which not only shades the steel roof but may sometime serve for triangulation surveying or aeroplane beacon installation.
The Laurel tower is situated on a 45-foot elevation north of the Georgetown-Laurel State Highway on the Midnight Thicket-Concord road; being approximately 2 1/2 miles northeast of Laurel.
Site and improvement ----------------------------------$72.85
Erection of tower---------------------------------------1,668.20
Equipment---------------------------------------------------95.30
Telephone connection--------------------------------------5.00
Total------------------------------------------------------- 1,841.35
+ Cost of tower----------------------------------------$8,103.98" " (2nd Annual Report of the State Forester FYs 1931 & 32)
1933: "The one-acre wooded site of the Laurel tower on the Midnight Thicket-Concord road about one-quarter of a mile north of the Georgetown-Laurel State Highway, has been improved from time to time by thinnings and improvement cuttings conducted by the Towerman on days when his services were not needed in the tower." (Annual Report of the State Forester to the State Forestry Commission, FY 1933)
1934: "The site of the Laurel tower (3 miles northeast of Laurel) was improved by the removal of some diseased and damaged trees near the highway and the planting of Japanese black and Loblolly pine seedlings on open areas on the back of the plot." (Annual Report of the State Forester to the State Forestry Commission, FY 1934)
1940: "During the latter part of the fiscal year the windows in the Laurel tower cabin were replaced with windows of entirely new design. This new design departs widely from the originally parallel sliding sash in that when open the sash slide parallel but when closed are in line. Also the window heads were dropped so as to eliminate as much light glare as possible and provide storage space above them." (Annual report of the State Forester to the State Forestry Commission, FY 1940)
1952: "Sliding type aluminum windows were purchased for replacement of the windows in the Laurel Tower." (Annual Report of the State Forester to the State Forestry Commission, FY 1952)