NH Fire Tower List

From Hiker Ed. Reference www.48x12.com OR directly here: http://www.48x12.com/nhfiretowers/nhfiretowers.html


Hi to All


We are adding the NH Fire Tower List to the "GRID" website.


We feel this fits the criteria of the "GRID". A lifetime goal, pursuit, and adventure in the outdoors.

We have done our best to post an accurate list of current, former, and formerly proposed fire tower sites.

This is a "work-in progress". We currently have a list of "92" locations. We believe there were once many more. There will be corrections, additions, and subtractions to this list.

A "patch" & "certificate" will be awarded to finishers. There will be no "order of finish". Finish dates "only" will be shown on the certificates.

Again, we feel, this to be a fun & rewarding pursuit of history in the "NH outdoors".

Please click on our "GRID" website ( below ) for the list and instructions on pursuing this "long term goal" and journey.

All suggestions, comments, & input are welcome.

Thanks,

And, Take Care

Ed



Tim

Darn it - another patch to work towards

Some interesting locations!!!! Finally, Pelham and Derry are on a list other than a police log!!!!

It's a beautiful patch (IMO).

Tim

Is there a winter patch for this list

Nice Challenge. I have one done
The Hyland Hill Tower has not been manned for several years. The watchman was moved to Miller when the new cab was installed.
Also Croydon Tower has not been manned for almost the same time.
Both Towers are still standing but inactive.
Hal

I have been to every peak on this list

I'm not sure where Ed got it but I don't know that it is accurate, for instance I think the Pillsbury tower was S not N of the main park

He is accepting input and corrections... so feel free to make any. I told him I would post this, so I'm betting he's watching.

Tim

...

IF ROY HAS DONE ALL LOCATIONS ON THE LIST
IT WOULD BE GREAT IF HE COULD HELP US OUT.

WE ARE SEEKING INPUT. I QUESTIONED CHARLIE
AND NANCY ABOUT THIS ONE. THE PILLSBURY
STATE PARK RANGER TOLD CHARLIE AND NANCY
THAT HE THOUGHT IT WAS THE HIGH POINT OF
GOVES MT, WHICH IS THE NE SUMMIT.

IF WE CONFIRM OTHERWISE, WE WILL CHANGE
THE LISTING.

I HAVE SEVERAL OTHER QUESTIONS, ON OTHER
LOCATIONS, WHICH WE HAVE LISTED, BUT ARE
NOT 100% CONFIRMED.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.

ED


I believe he has your e-mail address, Roy, but if not, let me know and I can hook you up.

Tim

Nice work Ed!

I was unaware of some of these being Fire Towers, so I have adjusted my own list accordingly. That gives me 115 (ha!) Fire Towers, most of which are in NY.

Ed is supposedly revising his list although I haven't seen any evidence of it.

One particular error is that the Fox SF tower is not on the summit of Monroe Hill which for one thing is not within the Forest, and it isn't even on the sub-peak but rather on a sidehill. It seems unlikely that a tower at that location was built for fire detection rather than for other purposes in the research forest. Anyway here are links to several versions of the forest map showing the correct location, one also has an added squib on the tower:
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/f4426df2-89ad-42f3-aaff-f2cd8341267c.jpg
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/large/d06f9a39-7282-4fd5-b7b7-c9212d5c714b.jpg
http://www.hikenewengland.com/images/FoxStateForest081206-Map.jpg
http://www.bikerag.com/images/MAPS/NH/nh_fox_forest.JPG

RoySwkr said:

Ed is supposedly revising his list although I haven't seen any evidence of it.

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Ed's done a lot of research on it and has been very open to input. I don't know if the most current version is up on the site, but he's definitely following up on any leads he gets.

He's produced a nice patch and full color certificate for finishers.

Additional NH Fire Towers Information

I'd like to provide additional information regarding New Hampshire fire towers.

As far as I know, Iris Baird of Lancaster, NH compiled the first comprehensive list of NH fire towers. She has published two fire tower field guides: A Field Guide to New Hampshire Firetowers 1992 and a second edition of the same field guide in 2005. Her 1992 edition shows a list of 87 fire towers and her 2005 edition shows 93 fire towers. It looks like The Mountain Wanderer in Lincoln, NH still has the 2005 edition listed on his website: http://www.mountainwanderer.com/proddetail.php?prod=WMH33 so you might still be able to purchase one.

Iris Baird's most recent update (2008 with a list of 91 towers) appears on the Forest Fire Lookout Association website: http://www.firelookout.org/lookouts/nh/nh.htm. Iris has also published another fire tower book called Looking Out for Our Forests which is also available at The Mountain Wanderer: http://www.mountainwanderer.com/proddetail.php?prod=WMH34

A few more informational websites well worth visiting:

http://www.nhdfl.org/fire-control-and-law-enforcement/tower-history.aspx

http://whitemountainhistory.org/Fire_Lookouts.html

http://www.firelookout.org

Any of the books and websites listed above are well worth reading and visiting. After you've done your reading, visit some of the standing towers and bushwhack to some of the historic sites where the fire towers used to exist. It's good clean fun!

NOTE: Some of these sites may be on private property.

rocket21 said:

I don't know if the most current version is up on the site, but he's definitely following up on any leads he gets.

Click to expand...

An advantage of online lists over paper lists is that it's easier to distribute updates, but only if you actually do it

I know that I'd be unhappy if I went to the wrong location and had to go back, and even more so if somebody knew it was wrong and didn't tell me. That's why I posted the two corrections that may save somebody a trip back to an area. I hope that others send in specific changes and that the site is kept current.

J&J - The links you guys have provided are super helpful (along with the info on Pillsbury tower. Thanks Roy! ..........since I've already been to the incorrect Monroe Hill tower in Fox State forest)

I'd love to see someone start up a website comparing what the old tower looked like when it was standing and what it currently looks like (artifacts/etc). If I were computer savy, I'd try it.........but I'm not.

I was on South Uncanoonuc today trying to find the old cement platform, pretty sure I found it.........but I was "pretty sure" I found the Monroe Hill tower too

Michelle said:

I was on South Uncanoonuc today trying to find the old cement platform, pretty sure I found it........

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The footings are still there inside the radio tower fencing, easily visible from outside or someone you know can fit under
http://imgcdn.geocaching.com/benchmark/da595afa-af34-4bac-8421-89231e6dcd32.jpg
http://imgcdn.geocaching.com/benchmark/8ba14697-7751-4c00-84a4-022d7229c8ec.jpg

Thank you Roy! I think I walked up to 10/15 of the communication towers up there, walked in circles (practically got lost) and still managed to miss the cement footings that you posted a picture of! ha ha! I thought this was from the old tower............but apparently not. Easy enough to go back now that I know what I'm looking for.

Michelle said:

I'd love to see someone start up a website comparing what the old tower looked like when it was standing and what it currently looks like (artifacts/etc). If I were computer savy, I'd try it.........but I'm not.

Click to expand...

That would be nice, in particular knowing if there are footings or a benchmark to tell you whether it's the right spot, at one time there was reluctance to post GPS coordinates to reduce vandalism (the alidade that sat on Currier Mtn for many years eventually vanished) but that may not apply to all sites.

A guy named Dave Hilton wrote a book on Maine fire towers, he was not a great writer and his book contained some inaccurate information to begin with and became increasingly out-of-date as time went by - but it's the best available on the subject! He also had a website that professional web developers would sneer at, but through search engines people found it who never heard of him or his book and sent in all sorts of information which he then posted - he got a photo of a short-lived remote lookout from a snowmobiler who had just happened to go by at the right time. Unfortunately after his death (and he was younger than me :-( his family didn't have the time or money to keep it up. There are archived versions available but without updates it is increasingly inaccurate just like the book.
http://www.ffla.org/lookouts/me/hiltonlegacy/page2.htm

The current NH fire tower researchers are not Internet enthusiasts and only write books. The FFLA has over 5000 nationwide to deal with so doubtful they will add much, note that their list is dated 2008 and doesn't include the inactivation of Hyland Hill and replacement with Pack Monadnock as mentioned by TWB.

J&J said:

I'd like to provide additional information regarding New Hampshire fire towers.


Iris Baird's most recent update (2008 with a list of 91 towers) appears on the Forest Fire Lookout Association website: http://www.firelookout.org/lookouts/nh/nh.htm.

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We are currently at #37 on this list. We only use this website for general locations and history only as we have found many of the GPS coordinates to be inaccurate. On the other hand, researching the history behind these towers has been a lot of fun. Even more fun when at least the footings or other artifacts are still present when we find them. It is obvious that Iris Baird put a lot of time into her research and we do thank her.

Update on Croydon Fire Tower: A friend just talked to the Superintendents office at the preserve and was told that Jerry is not working there anymore and under no uncertain terms was he suppose to being doing what he did. He continued to say that there will no longer be access to the preserve.
Bummer!

WeRmudfun said:

Update on Croydon Fire Tower: A friend just talked to the Superintendents office at the preserve and was told that Jerry is not working there anymore and under no uncertain terms was he suppose to being doing what he did. He continued to say that there will no longer be access to the preserve.
Bummer!

Click to expand...

man, hopefully whoever they talked to was having a bad day and that won't be the case. that would effect the completion of numerous lists beyond just firetowers. i got the impression that "highpointers" would be let in to get to croydon regardless of the caretaker, but that may not be the case. it may now be a game of who do you know...
thanks for the info.

bryan