PENNSYLVANIA LOOKOUTS
KINTON KNOB
Bedford County
April 13, 1967: "A contract let in favor of a Louisville contracting firm to supply and erect a tower which, when completed, would stand 2,722 feet above sea level, or the highest point in Bedford County east of the Allegheny Ridge.
A 2 1/2 mile road leading to the tower has been graded and improved in order that the contractor can get men and materials to the site and later provide ready access for the tower observer." (Bedford County Press and Everett Press)
A 2 1/2 mile road leading to the tower has been graded and improved in order that the contractor can get men and materials to the site and later provide ready access for the tower observer." (Bedford County Press and Everett Press)
October 26, 1967: "Construction has been completed on a new, 80-foot fire tower atop Kinton's Knob dominating more than 400 square miles of Bedford County forest land. The Knob is a 2,700-foot promontory of Wills Mountain, about three miles west of Bedford.
District Forester George R. Winning of McConnellsburg said the tower will protect the northwestern and southwestern quadrants of the county. He said, 'We expect to be able to survey almost the entire western part of the county, and much of the eastern as well.' The eastern sectors are already protected by fire towers atop Martin Hill, south of Rainsburg, and Tussey Mountain, west of Everett. The elevation of Kinton's Knob is slightly higher than the other two, and watchers can see west to the Allegheny Mountain escarpment, whose top forms the Bedford-Somerset County line.
Mrs. George Armstrong of Schellsburg, has been named to staff the new tower, continuing until mid-December when seasonal snows lessen the danger of forest fire. She will have two-way radio contact with other fire towers and the district headquarters pending construction of telephone lines to the site. It is reached by a newly cleared dirt road from Route 30.
The new tower, costing about $26,000, is of all-steel construction designed to withstand extremes of wind and weather." (The Altoona Mirror)
June 21, 1968: "A project to improve 2.5 miles of mountain road from J.C. Smith Reservoir above Lakewood to the Kinton Knob Fire Tower will be completed next week.
It's a Department of Forests and Waters job that has been contracted to Feight Brothers of Everett. It's not officially a public road but should prove of interest to weekend hikers and hunters.
The road was cut in the fall of 1966 and was little more than a clay surface free of trees. Breaks or gullies were dug at intervals to promote drainage.
The new fire tower was completed last fall, but the roadway presented problems, especially at the location of the drainage breaks.
The Department of Forests and Waters provided $8,000 for improvement to the road and for a second project.
Metal culvert piping needed for the Kinton Knob project was gathered from throughout the state. It's being installed in 28 locations, two 10 ten foot sections per installation.
Work began June 6 at the reservoir end of the road and slate, taken from an excavation near Wolfsburg and hauled through Lakewood, now covers all but the final .8 of a mile.
In addition to a bulldozer and four trucks owned by Feight Brothers, a Department of Forests and Waters grader is being used on the project. A final step will be scooping a drainage ditch along both sides of the road." (Bedford Gazette)
June 19, 1982: "Another victim of Wednesday's storms has turned up, or down. It was discovered Thursday that the Kinton's Knob tower bearing antennas for County Control, local 'ham' operations and fire department frequencies was bent literally in half by the storms. Some of the antennas were pointing at the ground, a knob-climber reported, adding that Sound Electronics was at the site to re-align the antennas temporarily until a solution to the bent tower can be decided. The nearby Knob fire tower and AT&T tower, appear to have escaped damage." (Bedford Daily Gazette)