WEST VIRGINIA LOOKOUTS
HUFF'S KNOB
Mercer County
February 25, 1936: "An 80-foot forest fire lookout tower is to be built on Huff's Knob, on the Raleigh-Mercer county boundary, immediately by C.C.C. men at Camp Raleigh, and the preliminary survey, including a highway, was made today by B.E. Mills, engineer at the camp, and seven enrollees.
Huff's Knob is one of the finest scenic vantage points in the southern section of West Virginia, standing 3,546 feet above sea level. Thus the observer at the top of the tower will be perched 3,626 feet above sea level, and will be able to view a breadth of horizon probably unequaled anywhere in the state.
The work is being undertaken under the auspices of the West Virginia department of conservation, of which H.W. Shawhan is director.
The plan is to provide a well-graded road leading from the main highway to the top of the knob. The proximity of the site to routes 19-21 will, it is anticipated, make it a stopping place for tourists, as well as an important station in fire-fighting operations.
An observers's cabin will be located at the foot of the tower, and the glassed room at the top of the mast will be equipped with a telephone, which with a telephone and a map which with a direction finder, will enable the observer, in cooperation with other lookout stations of fires, to spot the location of fires.
Both the tower an d the road leading to it will be constructed by the C.C.C. workers, under present plans which call for consummation of the project as quickly as possible. Funds for the work are provided in a special emergency conservation fund." (Beckely Raleigh Register)
Huff's Knob is one of the finest scenic vantage points in the southern section of West Virginia, standing 3,546 feet above sea level. Thus the observer at the top of the tower will be perched 3,626 feet above sea level, and will be able to view a breadth of horizon probably unequaled anywhere in the state.
The work is being undertaken under the auspices of the West Virginia department of conservation, of which H.W. Shawhan is director.
The plan is to provide a well-graded road leading from the main highway to the top of the knob. The proximity of the site to routes 19-21 will, it is anticipated, make it a stopping place for tourists, as well as an important station in fire-fighting operations.
An observers's cabin will be located at the foot of the tower, and the glassed room at the top of the mast will be equipped with a telephone, which with a telephone and a map which with a direction finder, will enable the observer, in cooperation with other lookout stations of fires, to spot the location of fires.
Both the tower an d the road leading to it will be constructed by the C.C.C. workers, under present plans which call for consummation of the project as quickly as possible. Funds for the work are provided in a special emergency conservation fund." (Beckely Raleigh Register)
May 17, 1936: "T.C. Harbeson, assistant state forester, and O.O. Nutter, forester of the Greenbrier district of Civilian Conservation camps, inspected the Shady Springs camp near Beckley and viewed the Huff's Knob project at Flat Top.
R.H. Legg, camp forester and his crew of 66 CCC workers are working at Huff's Knob, where over 1,000 feet of road leading to the tower site has been constructed. The fire tower will be erected this summer." (Charleston Daily Mail)
May 17, 1936: "T.C. Harbeson, assistant state forester, and O.O. Nutter, forester of the Greenbrier district of Civilian Conservation camps, inspected the Shady Springs camp near Beckley and viewed the Huff's Knob project at Flat Top.
R.H. Legg, camp forester and his crew of 66 CCC workers are working at Huff's Knob, where over 1,000 feet of road leading to the tower site has been constructed. The fire tower will be erected this summer." (Charleston Daily Mail)
June 12, 1936: "Construction of a road up Huff's Knob at Flat Top is being pushed to permit early completion of the 80-foot fire observer's lookout tower to be built on the 3,500-foot elevation.
The road will first be used to transport the steel for the tower, later by tourists.
Construction of two bridges across hollows which gash the side of the knob nearest U.S. Routes 19-21 is under way, and the grade for the new road has been made almost to the hill top.
Both road construction and tower erection are in the hands of C.C.C. men from Camp Raleigh." (The Raleigh Register)
July 20, 1936: "The CCC is now constructing a road to the top of Huff's Knob, on the Raleigh-Mercer county line. This point, 3,500 feet high, towers above the Flat Top weather observation station of Transcontinental Airlines. Work is necessarily slow because two bridges have to be constructed to cross hollows in the steep ascent." (Charleston Gazette)
August 14, 1936: "CCC enrollees from Camp Raleigh are at work today on construction of a telephone line from Huff's Knob to the site of a ranger's cabin to be built on the headwaters of Camp Creek.
Forestry Foreman R. H. Legg is in charge of crews clearing a right of way for the 7-mile line, while Foreman John Adkins and a crew are getting out poles for the cabin.
When complete, the line will connect with the Chesapeake and Potomac system's Besoco branch at J.C. Lilly's home at Flat Top, permitting conservation between the Huff Knob tower and the ranger station as well as with outside points." (The Raleigh Register)
December 11, 1936: "A crew of Camp Raleigh CCC enrollees broke ground yesterday morning on Huff's Knob, the highest West Virginia mountain south of the Kanawha river, and began work on the erection of a fire observer's tower.
Foreman Philip Baker, leader of the crew, said he hoped to complete the tower by Christmas--if fair weather continues.
Steel for the 79-foot structure arrived in Beckley Wednesday and was hauled to Camp Raleigh. It will be taken to the knob, just over the line in Mercer county on Flat Top mountain, as it is needed.
Yesterday the crew dug holes for the concrete bedding of each of the tower's four legs.
The structure will be of the conventional type, a square, tapering steel skelton supporting an observatory. Camp Raleigh officials said last night an observer will be appointed by the state conservation department after the tower is completed.
Leader John Adkins and a 10-man crew have nearly completed a log cabin for the observer at the foot of the tower.
A road leading to the base of the tower was built last summer by Camp Raleigh workmen, and the tower-site prepared. Delay in shipment of the steel has held up further work." (Beckley Post-Herald)
December 11, 1936: "CCC Camp Raleigh enrollees broke ground on Huff's Knob, highest mountain south of the Kanawha river, for a fire tower yesterday morning.
Steel for the tower arrived Wednesday.
The structure will be the conventional pyramid type tower. An observer will be appointed by the State Conservation department.
Leader John Adkins and his 10-man crew have almost completed a cabin for the observer at the tower's base. A road leading into the site was finished last summer.
Foreman Philip Baker hopes to complete the job by Christmas if fair weather continues." (The Raleigh Register)
January 17, 1937: "The steel for the framework is on the ground where each tower will be erected. Workmen are preparing to pour concrete for the foundations now.
One of the towers will be located on Huff's Knob, near Flat Top on U.S. Route 19-21. This knob, 3,645 feet above sea level is the highest point south of the Kanawha river. It is reached by a mile-long forest road. A motorist driving up this road is easily seen from the highway." (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)
May 10, 1937: "The forest fire lookout tower which is going up on Huff's Knob may serve an additional purpose in improving the knowledge of local geography of some of us Raleigh county people.
It may be spotted, even in its present state of incompletion, from several miles distant on the highway. And the remark 'well I didn't know it was in THAT direction' will be a common one henceforth.
Automobiles were climbing to the top of the knob yesterday. Tourists must already be taking heed to the publicity given the spot as one of the state's premier vantage points for scenery. For that matter, the vast majority of the people living within a few miles of Huff's Knob have never been to the top of it." (The Raleigh Register)
May 13, 1937: "One CCC undertaking, the completion of a lookout tower on Huff's Knob at Flat Top, will be completed in 'three or four days,' the superintendent said, the 80-foot steel structure, with an observer's cabin at the top, is being erected by E.N. Wriston and ten CCC men.
Poles for an eight-mile telephone line from the Huff's Knob tower to a ranger's cabin near Camp Creek post office have nearly all been planted, but the telephones will not be installed until beginning of the fall fire season." (The Raleigh Register)
August 15, 1937: "Construction of a nine-hole telephone line from Huff's Knob to Camp Creek was completed yesterday by CCC workers of Camp Raleigh.
E.N. Wriston, foreman, said his crew of 16 men would begin work tomorrow on another telephone line in Richmond district, from the Round Knob lookout tower, near Crow, to Freezeland mountain.
Both lines will be used in preventing forest fires.
The line from Huff's Knob to a ranger cabin at Camp Creek will have only two telephones on it 'for the present,' Wriston said. It will be used very little before opening of the fire season this fall.
The wire used was number 12 'copper weld,' with a steel core for strength." (The Raleigh Register)