MONADNOCK
New Hampshire - Cheshire County
1922: "Nearly all the telephone line to the Monadnock station had to be rebuilt in 1922 owing to the severe ice storm of the preceding winter. Much damage was caused to other station lines in southern New Hampshire by this storm." (Biennial Report of the Forestry Commission, 1921-22)
February 13, 1960: "Workmen using a snow tractor to get to the top of Pack Monadnock Mountain have discovered that a lightning bolt has blasted the fire tower there. The four sides of the lookout cab were blown out as if by an explosion. Lumber furniture and radio equipment were strewn over a wide are." (The Brattleboro Reformer)
September 18, 1972: "Another era in the history of Grand Monadnock, the majestic sentinel of southwestern New Hampshire, came to a close recently as a 45-year old foundation and a 20-year old building, most recently used as a refreshment stand, were dismantled and removed from the summit of the mountain.
Monadnock State Park crews with cooperation from the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and the support of the Monadnock Region Association took action because the building was being vandalized and used as a giant trash can, thus outliving its original purpose and usefulness.
Hammers, wrenches, chisels and crowbars were back-packed up the 3,165-foot peak and the demolition crew pulled, tugged and pried timbers and boards apart and chiseled iron supporting bars out out the cement and granite foundation. Wood was piled in a natural fireplace depression a hundred feet from the building site to be burned under proper weather conditions. All metal including the corrugated roof were laboriously back-packed off the summit to the site of the former Half-Way House, from where it was trucked to the town dump. The foundation is in the process of being pried and hammered apart, with each stone to be removed from the summit.
Thus, for the first time since 1914, the summit of Mount Monadnock will reclaim its natural beauty, as the structure built by man was eventually abused and destroyed by man.
Almost 60 years ago, the first fire lookout tower was erected on the mountain summit and supported by numerous guy wires. Residents of the area found the site to be ugly, so in 1928 a foundation was constructed in a depression slightly off the summit and the fire tower was rebuilt in a manner to keep it from jutting into the skyline.
By 1948, the building had weathered badly and was being vandalized by climbers, requiring the N.H. Park Department to remodel the building in 1952 for use as a concession stand, which lasted five years. Once again, in 1957, the building was dismantled and completely rebuilt, with over 3,000 pounds of material which was back-packed up the mountainside. Shortly afterwards, vandals chopped holes through the metal roof and repeatedly broke into the stand.
In 1969, it was decided to abandon the idea of snacks and cold drinks at the summit because of the damage being done to the building and the litter strewn over the mountain top. Shelving was removed from the building, but attempts to keep it locked were futile, as were efforts to have it available as an emergency shelter. Hikers preferred to leave their trash in the building. At this point, State Park and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests officials with strong support from the Monadnock Region Association decided to remove the problem spot from Monadnock's summit." (The Telegraph)