Over a century ago, following several devastating forest fires, Vermont’s governor appointed the first Forest Commissioner and laid the foundation for a forest fire lookout system that would span the entire state and include 38 lookout stations.
This fall, the Bald Mountain summit cabin in Westmore—one of Vermont’s oldest lookout stations—was restored thanks to a grant from the Vermont Land and Facilities Trust Fund. The original summit cabin and fire lookout tower on Bald Mountain (then known as Westmore Mountain) date back to the early 1920s when lookout stations were also built on Gore Mountain in Averill, West Mountain in Ferdinand and Stone Mountain in Guildhall. (The Burke Mountain summit station, personally financed by Elmer Darling in 1912, was the very first lookout tower installed in the State of Vermont and pre-dated the other well-known Northeast Kingdom sites.)
Today, few of Vermont’s lookout stations remain in their original condition and many have been lost to time or closed to the public. Although surrounded by private lands, the summit of Bald Mountain was purchased by the State of Vermont in 2000 and is now managed as part of Willoughby State Forest.
“In northern Vermont, most of the original fire lookout stations have been lost or altered” states Luke O’Brien, Trail Director at NorthWoods Stewardship Center and Project Coordinator for the Bald Mountain Restoration effort. “On Belvidere, Monadnock, Burke, Spruce and Elmore Mountains all of the summit cabins have been removed or burned down… and on Gore and Spruce Mountains, the towers have been removed but the cabins still stand. We believe Bald Mountain is only remaining lookout in northern Vermont where both the original tower and summit cabin still stand. “
According to O’Brien, the current ‘aermotor’ model fire tower found on Bald and many other lookout sites was installed in 1938-39 by the New England Forest Emergency (NEFE) organization after the 1938 Hurricane and replaced an older, open platform observation tower. While it is contemporary with other towers constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the area—including the Monadnock and Gore Mountain sites—it is unknown if the CCC had a hand in the Bald Mountain effort. A CCC work camp (camp S-55, Company 121) was located nearby in Sutton on the south end of what is now Willoughby State Forest.
While an effort by NorthWoods Stewardship Center, Green Mountain Club, and Westmore Association volunteers replaced the wooden steps and landings on the Bald Mountain fire tower between 2000-02, the old summit cabin had been largely neglected. Despite significant deterioration and vandalism however, the structure was still quite sound.
“The cabin had settled right into the ground and the floor members were crumbling from dry-rot but the upper framing, walls and roof were all remarkably intact”, states O’Brien, “we jacked up the structure, re-set the dry stone foundation and constructed a whole new floor system.” Doors, windows and trim were added according to the buildings original framing and appearance. In addition, the project restpred the building’s original cedar shingle siding.
Funding for the project comes from timber harvest revenues from State lands invested in the Vermont Land and Facilities Trust Fund. The St. Johnsbury office of Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation coordinated the work with crews from NorthWoods Stewardship Center.
A major logistical challenge was getting materials to the work site. Of the 2.8 mile climb from the north side of the mountain, crews hauled materials in by trailer 1.8 miles to the base of the mountain. From there,with the help of volunteers, they hauled lumber and supplies—one board at a time—the remaining mile to the mountain summit.
The Bald Mountain project not only preserves a historically significant summit shelter, it enhances one of the most popular hiking destinations in northeastern Vermont. “The Bald Mountain fire tower offers some of the best views in Northeast Kingdom” states O’Brien, “hopefully this project will keep the nearby summit cabin standing for another 90 years.”
For more information on the Bald Mountain pro
ject, contact Luke O’Brien at NorthWoods Stewardship Center 802-723-6551 x117. For information on Willoughby State Forest, the Vermont Lands and Facilities Trust Fund, or the Vermont fire protection program, contact Lou Bushey, District Forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
Click here to view the transformation!