PENNSYLVANIA LOOKOUTS S
FREELAND
Luzerne County
September 14, 1927: "New steel fire observation towers are to be erected this fall, in two locations, in the Wesier forest district. The announcement has been made by Chief Forest Fire Warden Wirt.
One tower will take the place of the former Freeland platform tower in the southern section of Luzerne county. The new tower is to be eighty feet in height." (The Altoona Mirror)
September 16, 1927: "Officials of the State Forestry Department yesterday consummated a deal with G.B. Hudock, owner of the Freeland Heights tract, for a plot of ground on the Heights to be used for the erection of a new lookout tower for the state fire wardens.
The spot chosen is conceded to the highest elevation on the North Side, and the eighty-five foot tower, in addition to affording the wardens an excellent opportunity to guard against the forest fires, which have been so numerous in that region, will provide a fine view of the entire Conyngham valley." (The Plain Speaker)
One tower will take the place of the former Freeland platform tower in the southern section of Luzerne county. The new tower is to be eighty feet in height." (The Altoona Mirror)
September 16, 1927: "Officials of the State Forestry Department yesterday consummated a deal with G.B. Hudock, owner of the Freeland Heights tract, for a plot of ground on the Heights to be used for the erection of a new lookout tower for the state fire wardens.
The spot chosen is conceded to the highest elevation on the North Side, and the eighty-five foot tower, in addition to affording the wardens an excellent opportunity to guard against the forest fires, which have been so numerous in that region, will provide a fine view of the entire Conyngham valley." (The Plain Speaker)
October 7, 1927: "Lookout tower to be erected here by State Forestry Department." (The Brockway Record)
October 21, 1927: "A carload of steel building equipment that will enter into the construction of a lookout tower for the State Department, arrived at the L.V. freight station and will be delivered to the Freeland Heights tract of land on the road leading to Butler Valley, where the signal station will be erected as speedy as possible." (The Plain Speaker)
November 23, 1927: "Work on the erection of the new steel forestry lookout tower at Freeland Heights by a force of men from the State Forestry Department at Harrisburg, was begun this week. The new tower will replace the old wooden structure destroyed some months ago by a bolt of lightning during a storm.
The present site was chosen after several days of exploration and measurements, as the spot was conceded to be at the highest elevation on the North Side. This feature enables them to cover a wider territory, and the new tower will have among its equipment, the new telephone signal service." (Standard-Sentinel)
November 26, 1927: "Tillman Arnold, Walter Lemmon, and Mr. Shellhammer, of the Butler Valley district, who are serving in the capacity as deputy fire wardens in this community, were among those who assisted a force of workmen from the State Forestry Department in Harrisburg, in erecting the new steel lookout station on the Freeland Heights tract of land, on the road leading to Butler Valley, that will be adorned by an electric sign on the part of George B. Hudock, if the necessary permit is forthcoming on the part of the state authorities, that will take on the appearance of a beacon light that will be appreciated." (Standard-Sentinel)
November 1927: "Four new steel fire observation towers are soon to be erected by the Pennsylvania Department of Forest and Waters. Two 80-foot towers will replace old towers that have become unserviceable, one at the Freeland platform, in southern Luzerne County." (Forest Worker)
April 10, 1930: "A crew of fire fighters has been stationed at the lookout tower on Freeland Heights and forest fires in this section will come under the work of this crew." (The Plain Speaker)
July 26, 1939: "Forest wardens through the Northwestern Pennsylvania area, reported constant new outbreaks of fire in brush covered hills as dry as tinder. Replacements were called in at some points to relieve fire exhausted fighters. Louis Corazza, fire tower man at Freeland, said he thought the fires in the present dry spell would break all records in the state. Nearly 150 have been reported in the past two weeks." (Olean Times Herald)
April 13, 1955: "Freeland Fire Tower, located on the mountain near Freeland, operator, Frank Swankoski. This tower covers lower Luzerne County and overlaps with the Penobscot Tower." (Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, The Evening News)