CROSS RIVER
New York - Westchester County - Ward Pound Ridge Reservation
September 3, 1926: "Stony Ridge, the highest point in the Poundridge Reservation, having an elevation of about 860 feet, has been chosen by the Westchester County Park Commission as the site of a fire observation tower. The tower itself will have a height of 60 feet, so that the observer's enclosure at the top will have an elevation of about 920 feet. The steel work for the tower, of the standard type used by the State Conservation Commission, has already been transported to the site of the tower.
It is expected that the fire observer will be stationed there from November 1 until the first real snowfall. The reservation includes an area of about 3,800 acres, the greater part of which is woodland. Brush has been cut away from many of the old wood roads to form fire breaks and the observation tower will be an added protection both to the reservation and the surrounding region.
The observation post will have a telephone connection to the Park Commission's headquarters at the reservation, which are located on the road connecting Cross River and Boutonville." (Scarsdale Inquirer)
It is expected that the fire observer will be stationed there from November 1 until the first real snowfall. The reservation includes an area of about 3,800 acres, the greater part of which is woodland. Brush has been cut away from many of the old wood roads to form fire breaks and the observation tower will be an added protection both to the reservation and the surrounding region.
The observation post will have a telephone connection to the Park Commission's headquarters at the reservation, which are located on the road connecting Cross River and Boutonville." (Scarsdale Inquirer)
September 4, 1926: "A fire observation tower, 860 feet above sea level, is being erected by the County Park Commission on Stony Ridge in the Poundridge reservation. The tower itself will have a height of 69 feet so that the observer's enclosure at the top will be at an elevation of about 920 feet.
The structure will be erected and equipped within the next few weeks. A fire observer will be stationed here from November 1 until the first good snowfall." (Bronxville Review)
November 9, 1929: "In September an observer went on part time duty in the fire observation tower at the Poundridge Reservation. Since October the observer has kept watch in the tower all day. The tower is 60 feet high and located at the highest point of the reservation at the top of Stone Hill. From the top of the tower the entire 4,000-acre reservation stretches out in vast rug patterns." (Bronxville Review)
February 13, 1932: "Westchester Forest Land will be protected during the coming year by the State Conservation service. It was learned this week that the State Department will continue its operation of the Cross River Fire tower, from which an observer overlooks the 4,200 acre forest preserve known as Poundridge, which is part of the Westchester County Park System. The lookout station was built in 1926 on top of Stone Mountain, the highest point in the reservation, and commands a view of the country for miles around. Nine fires broke out in the region during 1931, eight of them in farm lands adjacent to the reservation, and all were put out before any serious damage had been done." (Bronxville Review)
Removed