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Showing posts with the label Adirondack Fire Towers

Easy Adirondack Hikes: Newcomb NY Goodnow Mountain (fire tower) free trail map

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Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower (c) AdirondackFamilyTime.com Goodnow Mountain Fire tower Elevation:  2,690 ft Ascent:  1,040 ft Distance:  1.9 miles Fun Facts:  1) Goodnow fire tower is 60' tall and first built in 1922 2) Is part of the 15,000 acre Huntington Wildlife Forest owned by ESF (College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University)  3) The fire tower was manned until 1970, restored in 1995, and now part of the Adirondack Fire Tower Challenge. What's in a name?   1) Goodnow Mountain and nearby Goodnow River were named after a settler named Sylvester Goodnow. Here is a bit of history about the family's roots.  2) Later the surrounding acreage and mountain were purchased by the Huntington family,  In 1932 Annie and Archer Huntington donated their 15,000 acre property to the State University of New York. In 1972, the  Adirondack Ecological Center has continued to provide valuable scientific research . Here is a view of Goodnow Mou

The History of the Adirondack Fire Towers

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Bald Mountain Fire Tower in Old Forge, NY In the late 1800s and early 1900s, enormous forest fires were threatening residents and landowners. New ways had to be looked at to try to protect and report how these fires could be managed. Two different fires, 1903 and 1908, which damaged over 1 million acres of woodlands, became known as the "Great Fires" leading to an organized system of forest fire management throughout the Adirondacks. The first Adirondack fire tower, made of wood, was built on the summit of Mount Morris (now known as Big Tupper Ski Area) with other towers being constructed over the course of the next five years. There have 120  fire towers  at various locations around New York State with 57 of them within the boundary of the Adirondack Park. The log and wood structures were slowly replaced by steel towers between 1917 and 1930, which could be more easily maintained. A full-time work force from  Forest Rangers  to Fire Observers were organized to manag