HAMILTON MOUNTAIN
New York - Hamilton County
October 7, 1909: "At a conference today of the State fire superintendents with Commissioner Whipple of the State forest, fish and game department, it was decided to supplement the six fire observation stations established in the Adirondacks and three in the Catskills by constructing such a lookout at Mount Hamilton, west of Lake Pleasant, in Hamilton County." (Buffalo Courier)
October 1909: A lookout on an 18 foot tower was established on this point at a cost of $694.51. (Sixteenth Annual Report of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission - 1910)
October 1909: A lookout on an 18 foot tower was established on this point at a cost of $694.51. (Sixteenth Annual Report of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission - 1910)
1916: A 50-foot steel tower erected.
1924: "In accordance with the Commission's policy of keeping up the cabins at the observation stations, a new cabin has been erected at Hamilton Mountain." (Conservation Commission Fourteenth Annual Report)
December 7, 1976: "State Environmental Conservation Commissioner Peter Berle said Monday a 50-foot steel fire tower atop Hamilton Mountain in Hamilton County has been pulled down as an environmental action.
Berle said the unused tower was the first of eight to be removed because they did not conform to the forever wild' classification of certain areas in the Adirondack Park.
'I do not think government can operate with one set of standards for individuals within the park and with another set of standards for itself,' Berle said.
He said the 4 1/2-ton steel structure would be dismantled and the pieces flown out of the area by helicopter. Berle said fire surveillance has been performed by airplane and the tower had been closed for six years.
The other towers to be removed are at T-Lake, West Mountain and Kepshall Mountain in Hamilton County; Moose River Mountain and Beaver Lake Mountain in Herkimer County; Cat Mountain in St Lawrence County and Ampersand Mountain in Franklin County." (The Post-Standard)
December 14, 1976: "The state Department of Environmental Conservation has razed a 60-year-old, 50-foot-high fire tower atop Hamilton Mountain, southwest of Speculator in Hamilton County--the first of eight such towers slated to be removed from the Adirondack Park.
The peak of the mountain is 3,250 feet above sea level.
To bring down the tower, DEC personnel unbolted two of its legs. Steel cables were then attached to the tower and it was pulled over by a power winch. The 4 1/2-ton steel structure will be dismantled and the parts airlifted out by a DEC helicopter." (The Post-Standard)
January 5, 1977: "In an effort to restore the wilderness areas to what they were before man first set foot there, the department has removed boat docks at some lakes, closed Jeep and truck trails, removed lean-tos at high elevations and torn down a 50-foot fire tower atop Hamilton Mountain.
Peter A.A. Berle, commissioner of environmental conservation, said seven more towers will be leveled this year as unneeded. Aerial surveillance has replaced fire towers as a means of detecting fire." (Berkshire Eagle - Mass.)
January 5, 1977: "In an effort to restore the wilderness areas to what they were before man first set foot there, the department has removed boat docks at some lakes, closed Jeep and truck trails, removed lean-tos at high elevations and torn down a 50-foot fire tower atop Hamilton Mountain.
Peter A.A. Berle, commissioner of environmental conservation, said seven more towers will be leveled this year as unneeded. Aerial surveillance has replaced fire towers as a means of detecting fire." (Berkshire Eagle - Mass.)
Removed