NORTH CAROLINA LOOKOUTS
CANE MOUNTAIN
Alamance County
North Carolina Division of Forest Resources
North Carolina Division of Forest Resources
August 13, 1958: "The last fiscal year marked the first time that Alamance County has had a full time Forestry Aid. The job was vacant for seven months this fiscal year, but is now staffed.
The report points out that a forest fire lookout tower has been purchased and was delivered in June for erection in the county. Tentative plans are to erect the tower on Cane Mountain in the southern part of the county.
The tower was purchased and will be erected with no cost to the county, but the county is expected to pay a part of the operation of the tower and purchase a radio for it.
Although the tower is to be erected this summer, it will not be put into operation until the next fiscal year." (The Daily Times-News)
The report points out that a forest fire lookout tower has been purchased and was delivered in June for erection in the county. Tentative plans are to erect the tower on Cane Mountain in the southern part of the county.
The tower was purchased and will be erected with no cost to the county, but the county is expected to pay a part of the operation of the tower and purchase a radio for it.
Although the tower is to be erected this summer, it will not be put into operation until the next fiscal year." (The Daily Times-News)
June 19, 1959: "It is a hundred feet high!
It rises from a base of about 22 by 22 feet to a small observation house at the top which is six by six by eight feet.
To get to the top, one has to climb 133 steps with only eight landings upon which to rest.
More than 6,000 bolts went into its construction.
These are some of the statistics of Alamance County's new fire tower, the first in its history, located about 10 miles south of Graham between highways 37 and 49. The tower, called the Cane Mountain fire tower by the Forest Service, is built on Bass' Mountain.
The tower, which took only about 10 days to construct, was completed yesterday at a cost to the state of $10,000.
Cane Mountain Tower will go into full operation in September after it has been equipped with a two-way radio, telephone, and other necessary equipment. the expected cost of this equipment is $600, of which Alamance County will pay 40 percent while the state pays the rest." (The Daily Times-News)
October 9, 1959: "A snake measuring over six feet is unusual in this part of the country, but one crawled up to the Cane Mountain Fire Tower near the Mt. Herman Community yesterday.
However, an accurate measurement could not be made, as the snake met an untimely, sudden death when a hoe separated his head from the remainder of his body.
L.A. Thompson of the Forest Service was behind the hoe which decapitated the snake. He said it was seen running along a road about 20 yards from the fire tower, and he and Elbert Scott went out to check on it.
The snake appeared quite aggressive when approached by the two men, and it raised its head high in the air and began striking at them. With this situation facing them, the two men did not take time to make identification. They merely chopped away, killing the reptile." (The Daily Times-News)
February 6, 1967: "The North Carolina Forest Service maintains a Forest lookout tower on Cane Mountain, some nine miles south of Graham. 1960 marked the first year this tower was in operation for the entire fire season. Prior to the erection of the tower, the county had to depend on fire towers in adjoining counties to detect forest fires. It not only helps detect fires in Alamance County, but also in Guilford, Randolph, Chatham, Orange and Creswell, by working with the towers located in these counties." (The Daily Times-News)