KENTUCKY LOOKOUTS
ORCHARD KNOB
Clay County
April 16, 1916: "Clay county will have a forest lookout station to guard against forest fires. State Forester J.E. Barton has been notified that the Fiscal Court has appropriated $50 for it and the Government will contribute $50 toward its equipment. It will be built of rough timber on Orchard Knob, a high point about three miles from Manchester." (The Courier-Journal)
September 19, 1916: "The first forest fire lookout station has been completed by the Forestry Department and the county in Clay county and State Forester J.E. Barton will go there to-morrow to inspect it." (The Courier-Journal)
September 19, 1916: "The first forest fire lookout station has been completed by the Forestry Department and the county in Clay county and State Forester J.E. Barton will go there to-morrow to inspect it." (The Courier-Journal)
September 21, 1916: "With the aid of county authorities, Clay county has been provided with a forest-fire lookout station, the first of its kind established by the State Forestry Department." (The Citizen)
October 5, 1916: "The first fire lookout station constructed by the Forestry Department in Kentucky has been completed in Clay County." (The Citizen)
October 18, 1916: "State Forester J.E. Barton has appointed James Little, of Manchester, to take charge of the forest lookout station at Orchard Knob, Clay county." (The Courier-Journal)
1916: "During 1916 two lookout stations were established in Eastern Kentucky. One is located in Clay County on what is termed Orchard Knob, a point about two miles from Manchester. A forty-foot tower was erected at this point from which it is possible to see a large share of the forest area of Clay County. This lookout station is known as the Orchard Knob Lookout Station. It is not as yet equipped with a telephone line but it is only one mile from telephone communication, and there is a road from the top of the lookout point to the bottom, so that communication is fairly easy." (The State Forester of Kentucky - Third Biennial Report - 1917)