BIG HILL (RETREAT)
New Jersey - Burlington County
March 6, 1924: "F. Carlton Dalton, of Mount Holly, who ran on the Democratic ticket for coroner last fall and was defeated, has taken a position as watcher on the look-out station at Big Hill, near Retreat, maintained by the State Forestry service. The duty of the look-out is to watch for forest fires in the pines and give the alarm so that gangs may be dispatched to extinguish them before they gain great head-way. The service is maintained a portion of the year." (Courier-Post)
March 15, 1930: "F. Carlton Dalton, of Mt. Holly, has given up his position as towerman at Retreat in connection with the state forestry service on account of ill health. The Big Hill Lookout Tower has just been opened for the season and is in charge of Clifford Prickitt, of Chatsworth." (The Morning Post)
February 1, 1932: "Crippled for 27 years, Peter Curlis, 37, hopes to regain the use of his legs as the result of a 35-foot fall.
Curlis, who is a watchman at the Big Hill Fire Tower near Vincentown, fell from the observation platform of the tower on December 16 and was critically injured.
The watchman crawled 200 feet through the brush to the roadway, after regaining consciousness. There he remained five hours until a motorist picked him up and took him to the Burlington county hospital.
At the hospital, it was found that both of Curlis' legs, previously twisted and deformed by Infantile paralysis, had been broken. Several ribs also were fractured, in addition to his right wrist. It appeared at first that the fire warden would never walk again.
Curlis announced today that his right leg, which had been broken in three places, is virtually straight. The left leg, which was broken in two places, is still in the cast. He said a minor operation on the left leg may straighten it.
'My doctor says that when I leave here I will go away without my cane,' Curlis said, happily. 'Even if I can walk just a little bit like everybody else, that tumble certainly was worth while.'
Hospital attaches said Curlis would leave the hospital in much better condition than he has been for years." (Courier-Post)
March 2, 1940: "William Hagerthey, 23, youngest fire observer for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, yesterday was among the 11 men in South Jersey who opened their lookout towers in readiness for the official woodland fire season.
The tower men were ordered by State Fire Warden LeRoy Fales to check their radio equipment, telephone lines and electrical generators and to realign their maps in preparation for the fire season.
Hagerthey, who lives in Vincentown, man the 60-foot Retreat lookout tower." (Courier-Post)
May 15, 1947: "The Retreat lookout tower of the state fire service will be manned tomorrow by James Lawton, 36-year-old marine corps amputee veteran from Lumberton.
The 90-foot fire lookout tower is located in Southampton township woodlands. Lawton, three-year veteran of Pacific service, was appointed to the civil service job by State Fire Warden William J. Seidel." (Courier-Post)