Pump Station Fire Tower
US 1085, PA 18
Lookout Details
| Registry Numbers | US 1085, PA 18 (view other lookouts in United States, Pennsylvania) |
| Date Registered | July 24, 2016 |
| Nominated by | Henry Isenberg |
| Location | Lycoming County, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates |
N 41° 27.950' W 077° 34.294' (view using Google Maps) N 41° 27' 57" W 077° 34' 18" N 41.465834° W 077.571571° |
| Elevation | 2,148 ft (655 m) |
| Built | 1919 |
| Administered by | Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry |
Description
This 60' steel Aermotor tower was built in 1919 at a cost of $939, replacing a wood and tree tower built in 1914. The cabin was replaced in 1935.
Map
Change Basemap
Photos
Photo courtesy of Jack Kelley
Visit Reports
April 8, 2017: Jack Kelley
Condition |
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| Needs paint? | Yes |
| Shutters OK? | Not Applicable |
| Condition of wood OK? | No |
| Stairs OK? | Yes |
| Glass intact? | No |
| Good condition? | No |
| Comments: | The Pump Station fire tower is an isolated piece of lookout history that should be preserved rather than left in its current state. However, when I visited, I spent a lot of time wondering whether or not I was trespassing, as the former observer's cabin next to the tower had signs of someone having used it recently, and was somewhat personalized, leading me to wonder if the land had been bought and nobody had put up "no trespassing" signs yet. It turns out the cabin is part of a leasing program. Anyway, the tower itself is intact but decayed. A few boards of the map table remain on the firefinder stand in the cab but the boards are mostly gone. Glass remains partially in some windows, but broken glass and wood is all over the shaky cab floor. On the walls of the cab underneath fallen wood are inscriptions from the 1920s that should be preserved, some are very faint and the constant exposure is wearing them away. From the cab views are obscured in most directions due to tree growth, but to imagine what the observers used to see... |
Electronics and Enroachments |
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| Are electronic sites enroaching on tower? | No |
Access and Signs |
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| NHLR sign posted? | No |
| Directions to tower signed? | No |
| Comments? | The tower is completely unmarked, and someone who isn't looking for it wouldn't know it was there. |
Staffing |
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| Staffed? |
No
This tower has not been staffed in at least a decade.
|
Opportunities for Volunteer Support |
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| Volunteers staffing opportunities? | No |
| Volunteer maintenance opportunities? | No |
Photos |
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