West Mountain is a 2,923-foot-tall (891 m) mountain located in Adirondack Mountains of New York. It is located in the northwest of the hamlet of Raquette Lake in Hamilton County. In 1920, the Conservation Commission built a 47-foot-tall (14 m) fire lookout tower on the mountain. Due to aerial detection, the tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1970 season. The tower was later removed, and portions of the tower along with the tower from Kempshall Mountain were used to build the tower that is at the Essex County Historical Museum in Elizabethtown.
History
The first structure built on the mountain was a 14-foot-tall (4.3 m) wooden tower. In 1920, the Conservation Commission (CC) replaced it with a 47-foot-tall (14 m) Aermotor LS40 tower. The CC hired local woodsman and guide Billy Payne and his ox Tommy to transport the steel from the railroad station in Raquette Lake to the mountain. Due to aerial detection which was better, the tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1970 season. The tower was later removed because of this and also because it was deemed a "non-conforming" structure in the newly established Pigeon Lake Wilderness Area. Portions of the tower along with the tower from Kempshall Mountain were used to build the tower that is at the Essex County Historical Museum in Elizabethtown.[2]
References
- ^ "West Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ "Searchable list of NY Fire Towers". nysffla.org. The New York State Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association. Retrieved December 2, 2021.