SOPER MOUNTAIN #19
Piscataquis County - Maine Forestry District
1909: Established a wood tower. ( From the photo inventory of the Maine Historical Society.)
1909: "From Haymock in Township No. 8, Range11, the state in 1909 built a line to Soper Mountain fire station in Township No. 8, Range 12."
"The station on Soper Mountain was built by the state in 1909." (1910 Forest Commissioner's Report)
1914: "Soper Mountain station, built of logs in 1909, should be replaced with a steel tower. A thirty-six foot tower would be sufficient for this location. The road to the mountain has been swamped out, and if the tower is to be erected in 1915, it should be hauled to the mountain on the snow this winter 1914-15." (1914 Forest Commissioners Report)
1915: "We repaired all telephone wires and built a new lookout station on Soper Mt." "Equipment in good condition excepting dishes and bedding on Soper Mt." (1916 Forest Commissioner's Report)
June 10, 1916: "W.H. Edminster has been appointed by Forest Commissioner Mace lookout watchman No. 19, Soper Mountain, Piscataquis county." (The Old Time Enterprise)
1916: The lookout was improved with a log crib tower with a cab atop. ( From the photo inventory of the Maine Historical Society.)
1919: "On Soper Mountain in Twp. No. 8 R. 12, Picataquis County. This tower was originally built of logs in 1909. In 1916 it was rebuilt of logs." (Forest Protection and Conservation in Maine, 1919)
1920: Inventory shows a 20-foot wood tower.
July 22, 1924: "After the tower on Mount Abram is completed the construction crew will erect a 27-foot tower on Soper Mountain in Township 8, Range 12 in Piscataquis county." (Daily Kennebec Journal)