MASSACHUSETTS
Norfolk County
Middlesex County
Worcester County
January 1918: "Iron stairs were installed in our tower at Mendon." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1917)
Barnstable County
Franklin County
Barnstable County
1949: A 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 cab was constructed.
Norfolk County
September 21, 1938: The lookout was destroyed by the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.
1939: A 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab was constructed to replace the structure that was destroyed the previous fall.
Norfolk County
1910's: This weather observation tower was used as fire lookout for several years during this decade.
1916: "Owing to the discontinuance of the Blue Hill Observatory some two years ago, it became necessary to change the location of our Bluff Head tower to Moose Hill, in order that we might better protect the territory formerly protected by the Blue Hill tower." (Annual Report of the State Forester)
Bristol County
1916: The lookout duties and tower were moved from Richmond Hill. The tower had improvements made.
1931: A new 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab was erected.
1955: The lookout duties and tower were moved to Long Hill.
Hampden County
1918: "A new 45-foot tower has been erected at the summit of Holcomb's Hill in Chester. This is a light-weight tower, with an 8 by 8 foot room at the top, and it is equipped with a ladder. I think this station commands a more wonderful view of forested area than any of the other 35 stations." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1918)
Essex County
Barnstable County
Dukes County
January 1918: "A new tower 50 feet high has been erected on Martha's Vineyard, on land purchased from Capt. B.C. Cromwell adjoining the fish and game reservation in the central part of the island. This tower is equipped with stairs, and allows an unobstructed view of practically the entire island. The towns, together with several residents of the island, contributed very liberally towards the purchase of this tower." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1917)
1950: A 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab constructed.
Plymouth County
Worcester County
Worcester County
1917: "A new 50-foot tower with stairs has been erected on Little Mugget Hill, Charlton. This station will cover about 150,000 acres of forest lands. The several adjoining towns contributed towards the purchase price of the tower. This station will cover about 150,000 acres of forest lands. The several adjoining towns contributed towards the purchase price of the tower." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1917)
September 21, 1938: The lookout was destroyed by the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.
1939: A new 60-foot Aermotor tower with a 10x10 wood cab was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Bristol County
1955: The lookout structure and lookout duties were moved from Great Meadow Hill.
Norfolk County
Middlesex County
October 10, 1938: "In an effort to keep a close check on forest fires in the Pinehurst and Nuttings Lake camping sections, where there are extreme fire hazards due to the hurricane, the state department of conservation has established a fire look-out on the property of St. Vincent's seminary, formerly the Dunlap estate on Wyman road.
Chief Ernest N. Bartlett conferred with state officials during the past week regarding the fire hazard here, and as a result the state opened the fire tower. Arthur R. Hallenborg has been appointed observer and he will be on duty from dawn to dusk.
In selecting the location, Chief Bartlett made the best possible selection due to the fact that the tower is located between the two camping districts. The tower will cover the towns of Burlington, Bedford and Wilmington, as well as Chelmsford, where the steel tower there was destroyed by the hurricane.
Yesterday, Observer Hallenborg detected six fires and sent in calls to the Central fire station, from where apparatus responded to the locations. The telephone number at the tower is 2178.
With hundreds of acres of timberland flattened by the hurricane, causing the worst fire hazard ever known here, Chief Ernest N. Bartlett is in hopes of securing a project whereby W.P.A. or C.C.C. men will be allowed to clear away fallen trees on private land. The chief has a man patrolling the forests in an effort to check any outbreak of fire." (The Lowell Sun)
Bristol County
1918: "A new 48-foot tower has been erected on the summit of Mendall Hill in the town of Acushnet. This tower has a 10 by 10 foot room, and is equipped with stairs. It covers several thousand acres of valuable woodland in the surrounding towns. The towns of Acushnet, Rochester, Freetown, Mattapoisett and Fairhaven contributed $900 towards the cost price of the tower. One-half mile of telephone line was installed connecting with the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company at Acushnet." (Public Document - N0. 73, The State Forester Report of 1918)
1937: A 60-foot Aermotor tower with a 10x10 wood cab was erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Plymouth County
Essex County
Berkshire County
November 11, 1911: "John Murdock, Jr., Deputy Warden of the State Forester for Berkshire county, was here today to have a conference with Thomas Buxton, who has concluded his duties as fire lookout on Greylock mountain and has returned to his home in this city. Mr. Murdock thought that for a short season there had been good work done by the fire lookout, as a considerable number of people had been warned of fires in this vicinity." (North Adams Transcript)
Hampshire County
Hampden County
Franklin County
January 1921: "There is also some agitation relative to the necessity of a station at the summit of Mount Toby, in the town of Sunderland. This mountain and considerable area around it is owned by the State and used by the Amherst Agricultural College for demonstration purposes. The Division of Fisheries and Game also have holdings in the town of Montague that would receive protection. These State properties, together with the vast amount of forested area in that locality, would seem to warrant the establishment of a station at this point. The funds for the purchase of a tower would be furnished by Amherst College and the surrounding towns benefiting by the tower." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1920)
September 21, 1938: The lookout was destroyed in the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.
1939: A 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 cab was constructed.
1951: A 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab was completed, the previous structure had blown over.
March 30, 1966: "Better than the robin as a sign of spring and certainly more useful to fire departments, is the manning of the Mt. Toby fire tower. George Boulden will start tomorrow in the tower, it was announced today by William Bennett of Greenfield, district fire warden. Mt. Toby will be the only state tower manned in the district at this time. Two others will be opened as conditions warrant." (Greenfield Recorder-Gazette)
April 12, 1971: "Mt. Toby fire tower in Sunderland opened yesterday for the season. William Bennett, district fire warden, said the snow has melted in the woods very fast, leaving tinder dry leaves in the hot sun. Bennett said Mt. Massamet in Shelburne Falls might be opened by the end of the week, depending on the weather." (Greenfield Recorder)
Hampshire County
1917: "The efficiency of our Mount Tom station has been greatly increased by a new arrangement with the Holyoke Street Railway Company, whereby we are given the use of the cupola of the Summit House. Heretofore our observer has used the public observation room which, besides being some 40 feet lower than the cupola, is frequently crowded with visitors, making accurate work on the part of the observer more or less difficult. The new observation room has been equipped with the new regulation map, alidade and telephone." (Public Document - N0. 73, The State Forester Report of 1917)
Middlesex County
Middlesex County
1966: A 75-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab constructed,
1920: "It seems advisable that an observation station be located at the summit of Oak Hill in the town of Harvard. The territory in this vicinity for a radius of 8 or 10 miles has been covered to some extent by distant observation towers, although we have not been able to give it adequate protection because of the fact that the distance renders it difficult for these stations to detect fires when in an incipient stage. I feel quite confident that several towns receiving benefit from this station will co-operate with us and raise sufficient funds to meet the initial cost of the tower, and possibly of its erection." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report for 1920)
1921: "A new 70-foot tower was erected at the summit of Oak Hill in the Town of Harvard. This will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most important stations we have, overlooking vast forested areas that we have been unable to protect by other stations. Several towns receiving protection from this tower contributed $1,350 towards the purchase price." (Public Document - No. 73, Department of Conservation for 1921)
Berkshire County
August 15, 1946: "Doomed by porcupines: The lookout tower on the State (Whitney) Reservation on October Mountain is being razed because of damage done by porcupines that have chewed away beams rendering the 90-foot structure dangerous. It was built about 50 years ago as a water tower and was once equipped with a heating plant.
It was first planned to dynamite the structure but later decided to salvage the timber for use in the construction of a Department of Conservation garage in the eastern part of the state. According to W.R. McCulloch of Lee, superintendent of the reservation, the lookout will not be replaced." (Pittsfield Berkshire Evening Eagle)
Barnstable County
Essex County
Plymouth County
1966: A 70-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab was constructed. Lookout duties were transferred from Manomet Hill.
Essex County
Worcester County
Plymouth County
1916: "A new 40-foot tower with stairs was erected on Prospect Hill in Hingham. The towns of Cohasset, Hingham and Norwell contributed towards the purchase price of this tower, which covers an area of about 200,000 acres." (Annual Report of the State Forester)
1956: A 70-foot steel tower with a 10x10 cab was erected.
Worcester County
September 21, 1938: The lookout was destroyed in the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.
1939: A 68-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab was erected to replace the structure lost the previous fall.
Middlesex County
January 4, 1917: "Newton has been asked to contribute $200 toward the erection of a fire tower on Prospect Hill, Waltham, as the city's share in watching out for forest fires. This work will be under the direction of the State fire warden, and the expense, amounting to $1600, will be met by Waltham, Watertown, Belmont, Arlington, Lexington and Needham, together with Newton. The steel tower will be 60 ft high with a 10-foot square room at the top, in which a guard will be on duty day and night eight months of the year. This district is one of the few unguarded in the state." (Boston Evening Globe)
1917: "A new 60-foot tower with stairs has been erected on Prospect Hill in Waltham. This station covers several thousand acres of very dangerous fire territory, where we have had some of the most damaging fires during the past four or five years. The cities of Waltham and Newton and the towns of Lexington and Wellesley contributed towards the purchase of this tower." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester of 1917)
October 23, 1940: "Paul W. Hassan, 32, works in one of the state's loveliest spots, but he has thousands of visitors annually.
Stationed in a 50-foot steel tower atop Prospect Hill, he daily watches 150,000 acres of woodlands for fires. But reports that high places must hold a fascination for most people since he has visitors in his 'nest' from every state in the Union during a 12-month period.
Now in his eleventh season as an observer, Hassan says he never gets lonely and prefers his job to being a bank president." (Bakersfield Californian)
December 5, 1949: "A 51-year-old man was held in $25,000 bond today on sex charges involving his 15-year-old war orphaned German niece who hanged herself from a hilltop watch tower on a winter-dark morning last Sunday.
The body of Elizabeth M. Bruckman, who was brought here by her uncle after her parents died in Germany in World War 2, was found hanging from the 20-feet-high first landing of a fire watchers' tower in Prospect Park.
Last night her uncle, Fred Bruckman, tall, thin-faced official of a small photostat laboratory, was arrested on charges of incest and carnal abuse of his niece." (Kentucky New Era)
Hampden County
January 1921: "A new tower 48 feet high was erected at the summit of Provens Mountain on lands of the Springfield water works in the town of Agawam. While this station is within a few miles of the Connecticut line, it was the only location that would cover certain dangerous fire areas in the county of Hampden." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report for 1920)
1959: A 70-foot steel tower with a 10x10 cab was erected.
Worcester County
Worcester County
1917: "A new 50-foot tower has been purchased for erection on Ragged Mountain in West Brookfield. Cement abutments have been constructed, but owing to insufficient funds it was found necessary to postpone the erection of the tower until another season. This will be done early this coming spring, when the station will be placed in operation." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1917)
1918: "A 48-foot tower with a 10 by 10 foot room at the top, equipped with a ladder, has been erected on Ragged Mountain in the town of West Brookfield. This tower was purchased last year and a portion of the construction work was done, but, owing to lack of appropriation, it was not completed until July of this year. It was necessary to install 3 miles of telephone line to connect with the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company at West Brookfield. This tower was not placed in operation this year on account of favorable fire conditions." (Public Document - No. 73, The State Forester Report of 1918)
September 21, 1938: The lookout was destroyed by the Great New England Hurricane of 1938.
1939: The Civilian Conservation Corps erected a new 60-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab.
Middlesex County
Plymouth County
April 6, 1908: "Plymouth selectmen have authorized the town forester to erect an observation tower on Reservoir hill near the pumping station, for a lookout station in the season of forest fires." (Hyannis Patriot)
Barnstable County
March 26, 1917: "The tower at Bourne is a 40-foot steel structure, upon which is mounted the observation room, 10 feet square." (Hyannis Patriot)
1947: A replacement tower 70-feet high with a 10x10 wood cab was constructed.
Norfolk County
Norfolk County
Worcester County
Berkshire County
Bristol County
February 17, 1970: "Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources - Notice to Contractors: Sealed proposals for project No. 601-70, Contract No. 601-70, Construction of fire tower, North Attleborough, Massachusetts, will be received at the office of the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources, Room 1304, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts, until two p.m. om Tuesday, March 10, 1970 at which time and place the bids will be publicly opened and read.
The project includes structural steel, concrete, carpentry, painting, excavation and blasting.
. . . . . . . etc." (Berkshire Eagle)
May 6, 1971: "The $29,000 forest fire observation tower at the World War I Memorial Park in North Attleboro will be dedicated May 14, state Natural Resources Commissioner Arthur W. Brownwell said Wednesday." (Newport Daily News - Rhode Island)
Hampden County
Plymouth County
Plymouth County
1939: A 48-foot tower was erected at this site, the third in a series of towers at five different locations in Plymouth.
1942: The lookout tower was discontinued and a new tower along with the transfer of duties were set up on Manomet Hill.
Barnstable County
1934: The Civilian Conservation Corps erected a steel Aermotor tower with a 7x7 steel cab.
1966: A 75-foot steel tower with a 10x10 wood cab was built to replace an earlier structure.
Plymouth County
Berkshire County
Berkshire County
June 21, 1949: "CAP cadets from the Pittsfield Squadron will try to operate the Hancock tower on Tower Mountain. This has not been used for a number of years and this morning no information about its condition was available. However, if it is usable, and if the state Department of Conservation grants permission--as is expected--to operate it, younger members of the local squadron will be there for the rest of the summer. It is also possible that they will man private towers in Stockbridge, Monterey and elsewhere in the southern part of the county." (Pittsfield Berkshire Evening Eagle)
Berkshire County
Norfolk County
May 26, 2006: The tower was removed.
Worcester County