SPENCER MOUNTAIN #9
Piscataquis County - Maine Forestry District
1906: Established with a wood tower. (From the photo inventory of the Maine Historical Society.)
August 1907: "In 1906 a lookout station was constructed on Spencer Mountain, on the east shore of Moosehead Lake, where 200,000 acres of timberland on the Penobscot and Kennebec can be watched." (Forest Leaves)
1912: "A change has been made in the telephone line running from Spencer Mt. lookout to Roach River, which has never given the best of satisfaction. Another season it is planned to have it run from Grant farm to the Spencer Mt. and thus continuous service can be had without the delay and trouble that has been experienced." (1912 Forest Commissioner's Report)
1914: "Chief Warden George G. Hathorne, Chesuncook--A telephone line from Grants Farm to the top of Spencer Mt., a distance of seven and one-half miles." (1914 Forest Commissioner's Report)
April 6, 1916: "The writer helped build the tower on Big Spencer mountain, north of Moosehead lake, and had an experience that will last in his memory for a long time. It was interesting work and we had a cook that was a wonder, ate meals that were fit for a king, worked like horses from dawn till dark, and put up our tower in less than two weeks, having to carry iron, concrete, framework for the house, guy wires, windows, etc., up the sheer face of the mountain on our backs. It was partly ladder work, partly by means of knotted rope, and in places a fall would have resulted fatality." (Daily Kennebec Journal)
1917: "R.L. Brick, Chesuncook, Chief Warden, Chesuncook section: The Mt. Spencer lookout station has been painted this year and glass put in same, also a wire screen used on the outside to prevent hail stones and large birds from breaking glass.
The lookout camp has also been newly covered this year, and new ladders built on the trail and a large section of old trail kept in good condition. All bushes, etc., have been cut, making a clean trail about seven feet wide from the foot of the mountain to the camp." (Forest Protection and Conservation in Maine)
1919: "The line from Grant Farm to Spencer Mountain Lookout, nine miles, was rebuilt and brushed out, making a first-class line of fifty-six miles and one-half miles from Spencer Mountain to Eagle Lake. The tower on Spencer Mountain has been painted inside and out; also wooden shutters placed on same." (Forest Protection and Conservation in Maine, 1919)
1920: Inventory shows a 14-foot wood tower.
December 17, 1926: "This same crew are also getting in the steel and tower materials for a new tower on Spencer Mountain, the material being hauled in from the Grant Farm on the Ripogenus road, to the watchman's cabin on the north side of Spencer, between the mountain and Lobster Lake." (Daily Kennebec Journal)
1927: A 12 foot steel tower with cab was completed. (From the photo inventory of the Maine Historical Society.)
April 17, 1976: "Spencer Mountain Tower will be amoung the few lookouts thus maintained and will be manned by Fred Chadwick of Dover-Foxcroft. Planes are used a great deal now for fire patrol. However, the Spencer tower will be open to visitors who wish to hike the picturesque trail to the mountain top, a trek that can run from around eight to 12 miles, depending upon the starting point." (Kennebec Journal)
December 2009: The cab was removed from the tower.