WEST VIRGINIA LOOKOUTS
MINGO MOUNTAIN (HORSEPEN)
Mingo County
West Virginia Division of Forestry
West Virginia Division of Forestry
October 10, 1926: "The Mingo tower between Williamson and Gilbert in Mingo County will be served by a state forest telephone line." (Charleston Gazette)
September 18, 1938: "W.A. McNees. of Bramwell, district forester for the Pocahontas district has announced that the regular fall training meeting for rangers and observers of the Pocahontas district will be held at the Mingo Mountain Fire Tower on Wednesday, October 5, beginning at 9:30 a.m." (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)
April 27, 1958: "A Mingo Mountain observer's cabin was almost lost in the wake of a 300-acre forest fire this week, but the man charged with setting the fire was bound over to the May Grand Jury on a felony.
James Blankenship, Wharncliffe, Mingo County, was given a preliminary hearing before Justice of the Peace George Ward of Williamson. The man was charged with willfully setting two forest fires in the county. His bond was set at $1,000.00 and his case will go before the Grand Jury in May.
Tony Politino, County forest protector, was fighting fires while his wife manned the fire tower above the observer's cabin on Mingo Mountain. The lady spotted the fire which was set below the cabin near the road, and in turn reported the blaze to the fire warden. Before crews could suppress the fire it had burned to within a few yards of the observer's cabin at the base of the tower." (Post Herald And Register)