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US
520, New York 23
New York
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Elevation:
2500'
Coordinates: N44 32.570 W74 30.276
Administrative Unit: New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Cooperators: Azure Mountain Friends & New York DEC
To Topographical Map
There are a number of success stories of restoration of fire towers in
the Adirondacks, and Azure Mountain is among them.
The first lookout on the site was a wood platform built in 1914. In 1918 New
York DEC built the present 35’ Aermotor LS-40 tower with 7’x7’ metal cab at a cost
of $300. In 1934 the State added the 535 Azure Mountain tract to the
Adirondack Park and continued to staff the lookout until 1978. The 1936
observers cabin was removed in 1995, but in 2001 the fire tower and six others
won listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower was
restored in 2002 by a team from DEC, AmeriCorps, and a group known as Azure
Mountain Friends (who published an excellent Fire Tower Interpreter’s Guide).
From The Observers' Cabin by Bill Starr:
"What I call the `Model 1936' cabin was developed and placed into
service that year. Six were built at Azure, De Bar, Makomis,
Poke-O-Moonshine, Rock Rift and Stissing mountains. The blue prints call for
a stone fireplace on the front wall of the cabin. Yet from very recent
photographic research not all these cabins were constructed with the stone
fireplace.
"Accessibility to material and even to a skilled stone
mason was essential. At Azure, De Bar and Poke-O-Moonshine mountains road
access to the cabin sites was available, and a stone mason must have been at
one of the nearest C.C.C. camps because these three locations all had their
'Model 1936' cabins built with a stone fire place. The only other cabin with
a stone fire place was at St. Regis Mountain where this cabin was built in
1939. Two stone chimneys existed on this cabin, the main fireplace in front
and a smaller chimney in the rear left corner of the cabin at the pantry, no
doubt for a wood burning cook stove."Historic photos courtesy of
Bill Starr, NHLR State Registrar:
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1936-New Cabin (NYS-DEC photo) |
Model 1936 Cabin |
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1974-Model 1936
Cabin
(Bob Eckler photo) |
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