Snowy Mountain Fire Observation Station
Encyclopedia
Snowy Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station
located on the summit of Snowy Mountain at Indian Lake
in Hamilton County, New York
. The station includes a 45 feet (13.7 m), steel-frame lookout tower erected in 1917, a jeep trail from NYS Rte 30 to the base of the mountain, the remains of an observer's cabin and an adjacent spring house
reported to have been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
in 1936. There are four contributing resources: the tower, trail, observer's cabin ruin, and spring house. The tower is a prefabricated structure built by the Aermotor Corporation and provided a front line of defense in preserving the Adirondack Forest Preserve from the hazards of forest fires. The jeep trail is now largely abandoned and replaced by a hiking trail relocated to higher and drier ground. Of the observer's cabin and the spring house, little physical evidence remains. Both were removed during the 1980s.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Fire lookout tower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness...
located on the summit of Snowy Mountain at Indian Lake
Indian Lake, New York
Indian Lake is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 1,471 at the 2000 census. The name is from a large lake partly inside the town.The Town of Indian Lake is on the east border of the county and is northeast of Utica....
in Hamilton County, New York
Hamilton County, New York
Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is named after Alexander Hamilton, the only member of the New York State delegation who signed the United States Constitution in 1787 and later the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. Its county seat is Lake Pleasant...
. The station includes a 45 feet (13.7 m), steel-frame lookout tower erected in 1917, a jeep trail from NYS Rte 30 to the base of the mountain, the remains of an observer's cabin and an adjacent spring house
Spring house
A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building used for refrigeration once commonly found in rural areas before the advent of electric refrigeration. It is usually a one-room building constructed over the source of a spring. The water of the spring maintains a constant cool temperature...
reported to have been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
in 1936. There are four contributing resources: the tower, trail, observer's cabin ruin, and spring house. The tower is a prefabricated structure built by the Aermotor Corporation and provided a front line of defense in preserving the Adirondack Forest Preserve from the hazards of forest fires. The jeep trail is now largely abandoned and replaced by a hiking trail relocated to higher and drier ground. Of the observer's cabin and the spring house, little physical evidence remains. Both were removed during the 1980s.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.