MASSACHUSETTS LOOKOUTS
MOUNT GRACE
(WARWICK)
Franklin County
1918: "I am in hopes that we can arrange to erect a new tower on Grace Mountain, Warwick, where we have maintained a 40-foot windmill tower, with no building for the protection of the observer, for the past seven years." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1918)
August 2, 1919: "It is expected the fine new fire tower on Mt. Grace, in Warwick, will be completed this week and it will provide a fire preventive for the forests and woodland of the section of inestimable value. The work has been in charge of Deputy Fire Warden John P. Crowe, under the direction of the state fire warden, M.C. Hutchins. The new structure is 71 feet high. For the building of this tower much credit is due Rep. Coleman of Orange, who was instrumental in making it possible to buy the plot on the top and securing a right of way to the tower, as well as helping materially to put through a bill which made town aid possible. The tower cost $2000, for which Orange, Athol and Warwick contributed $200 apiece and Royalston. Wendell, Erving and Northfield $100 apiece, the state of New Hampshire a slight contribution, and the remainder was provided by the state. A greatly extended view and beautiful outlook is provided by the new tower. William E. Taylor, the warden of the tower for the past few years, will have one of the best stations in the state at which to do this work." (Greenfield Gazette and Courier)
January 1920: "We purchased this year the summit of Mount Grace, Warwick, and replaced the windmill tower which has been in use there for seven years with a large 8-ton steel tower, 70 feet high, with stairs, and a 10 by 10 foot room at the top. The station has always been a very important one, and with the new tower giving additional height overlooks thousands of acres of forested area in Massachusetts, as well as a large amount of territory in New Hampshire. The towns of Athol, Erving, Northfield, Orange, Royalston and Warwick contributed $900 towards the cost of this station." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1919)
May 16, 1934: "A fire in New Hampshire was discovered by a man in Massachusetts. With residents of this town unmindful of the blaze. Donald Davidson, forest fire lookout on Mt. Grace in Warwick, just over the Massachusetts state line, espied it and telephoned the alarm." (Ogden Standard-Examiner - Utah)
September 21, 1938: The lookout structure was blown down in the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.
1939: The blown down structure was replaced with a 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab
DESIGNATION - MOUNT GRACE 2 RM 1
PID - MZ1489
STATE/COUNTY- MA/FRANKLIN
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - MT GRACE (1977)
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY MASSACHUSETTS GEODETIC SURVEY 1936
STATE SURVEY STANDARD REFERENCE DISK SET BY THE MASS. GEODETIC
SURVEY IN 1937, IN OLD DRILL HOLE IN ROCK OUTCROP. LOCATED 9
PACES SSW OF SW LEG OF FIRE OBSERVATION TOWER NO. 32, 6 PACES
N OF NE CORNER OF SMALL LOG SHED, ON THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT GRACE,
7-1/2 MILES NNW OF ORANGE, 5 MILES E OF NORTHFIELD, AND 1 MILE
NW OF WARWICK, IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL PART OF THE TOWN.
REFERENCE MARKS--THREE STATE SURVEY STANDARD REFERENCE DISKS,
SET IN OLD DRILL HOLES IN ROCK, LOCATED FROM STATION MOUNT
GRACE 2, R.M. NO. 1, 1937 AS FOLLOWS--R.M. NO. 2, 54.28 FEET,
R.M. NO. 3, 88.57 FEET, IN GEODETIC AZIMUTH 238 DEG 16 MIN
59 SEC. R.M. NO. 4, 52.44 FET IN GEODETIC AZIMUTH 272 DEG 18 MIN
12 SEC. MOUNT GRACE 2, 1896-19378 45.17 FEET, IN GEODETIC
AZIMUTH 238 DEG 37 MIN 37 SEC.
IN 1937, MOUNT GRACE 2, R.M. NO. 1 WAS USED AS THE STATION,
BECAUSE MOUNT GRACE 2, 1896-1937 WAS OBSTRUCTED BY THE FIRE
TOWER. OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE FROM A 50-FOOT TOWER.