As Far As The Eye Can See
A Tribute to the Fire Towers in the Town of Webb
T
Following the devastating fires of 1903 and
1908 the NYS Forest, Fish and Game Commission investigated several
avenues to
combat the rising occurrence of forest fires.
By 1909 the Forest and Game Commission decided to be pro-active in fighting forest fires by creating laws and stationing people on mountain tops equipped with telephones and log lookout towers without cabs through out New York State. These log towers were replaced by steel towers with cabs between 1916 - 1919.
Herkimer County had nine towers, six of those were located in the Town of Webb: Mt. Electra, Beaver Lake Mt., Stillwater Mt., Rondaxe Mt. (Bald Mt.), Moose River Mt. (Pete's Tower), and Woodhull Mt.
Five of these towers were operated by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Bureau of Fire Control. Mt. Electra was Dr. William Seward Webbs' private tower at Nehasane. Three of these stand today: Stillwater, Bald, and Woodhull.
The Town of Webb
Historical
Association
would like to thank the following:
Ron Walker & Deb Evans
TOW Historian
Peg Masters
Reed &
Barb Proper
Kurt Gardner
Photography
Jamie & Krissy Schellhammer of Innovative
Displays
Kevin Birtle
Marty Podskoch
Capt. Paul T. Hartmann, NYS Forest Rangers (Ret)
Stillwater Mt.
Tower Restoration Team: Jim
Fox & Harry Peck
Historian Edward
“Ted” Comstock
John
Warren (Adirondack Almanac)
Bill Starr, Former Fire Tower Observer &
Historian
Dante Tranquille, Adirondack Museum and Mike McMillan, US Forest Service
Photos
by Look
through Laura's Lens