WHETHAM
Pennsylvania - Clinton County
1912: "The forest has one fire lookout which is well situated." (Report of the Department of Forestry, 1912-13)
October 28, 1920: "The first forest fires of the fall season in Clinton county were reported this week to the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry by District Forester Dutlinger, of Renova. Smoke was seen by Forest Ranger R.K. Merrill, who was on duty at a fire observation tower between right and left hand Sugar camp runs. The fire which started from a railroad engine's sparks was put out by Ranger Merrill and several section crews from Whetham, Glen Union and Ferney before much damage was dome." (Lock Haven Express)
March 8, 1926: "This sixty-foot steel tower was built in 1923 and takes its name from John D. Whetham, a pioneer settler and lumberman of this region. Whetham is also the name of the nearest Pennsylvania railroad station to this tower and was at one time the western terminus of this railroad. Whetham about the time of the Civil war was a thriving lumber center and produced a large number of rafts of White Pine timber which was used for main masts of sailing vessels of that period.
The tower is on Sugar Camp ridge overlooking Rattlesnake run and is reached by automobile from Renovo via the state road to Hyner, thence by township road along the river to Whetham. At this point, the tourist may cross the railroad and follow the road along Rattlesnake run about three-quarters of a mile, then cross Rattlesnake Run and proceed to the tower by the left hand Sugar Camp road, a distance of about four miles.
The Whetham tower has a ground elevation of about 2,240 feet and from its cabin can be seen ridge after ridge of typical Northern Pennsylvania wooded landscape. There is no better hunting country in the state than in the region of this tower. Drinking water can be obtained a short distance down the trail to the north of the tower." (Lock Haven Express)
Tower removed.
DESIGNATION - WHETHAM LOOKOUT TOWER
PID - LZ1772
STATE/COUNTY- PA/CLINTON
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - GLEN UNION (1971)
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1958 (WER)
THE STATION IS ABOUT 12 MILES NORTH-NORTHWEST OF LOCK HAVEN AND 10
MILES EAST OF RENOVA. THE TOWER IS A 4-LEGGED STEEL STRUCTURE
SUPPORTING A SQUARE METAL CABIN AND IS ABOUT 60 FEET IN HEIGHT
OVERALL.
A TRAVERSE CONNECTION WAS MADE FROM TRIANGULATION STATION WHET TO THE
CENTER AT BASE OF LOOKOUT TOWER, DISTANCE BEING 21.525 METERS
(70.62 FEET) SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF STATION WHET.