{"nrhp_refnum":"05000163","name":"St. Regis Mountain Fire Observation Station","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"St. Regis Mountain","address_restricted":false,"city":"Santa Clara","county":"Franklin County","state":"NY","lat":44.41402058500006,"lon":-74.31476387799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-03-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Entertainment/Recreation","Conservation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A fire observation station on the 2,874-foot summit of St. Regis Mountain in Santa Clara, Franklin County, New York, in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. It includes a 35-foot steel lookout tower erected in 1918, the site of the former observer's cabin, and a nine-tenths-mile foot trail.","why_significant":"The station is significant under Criteria A and C for its association with the New York State Forest Preserve and as an example of an early-20th-century forest fire observation tower with related resources. It belongs to the multiple property listing for fire observation stations of the Forest Preserve. The tower is typical of the heavier steel type built by the state between 1917 and 1950.","narrative":"On the open, rocky summit of St. Regis Mountain in Santa Clara, New York, a 35-foot steel lookout tower marks one of the state's Forest Preserve fire observation stations. The state first staffed the site in April 1910 with an observer and a tent, since the cleared summit offered wide views. The tower, fabricated by the Aermotor Company, was added in 1918. It has a glass-enclosed cab and an integral staircase of five flights. An observer's cabin was built in 1925 and replaced by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939; only its site and foundation remain. A nine-tenths-mile section of original foot trail connects the cabin site to the summit and is part of the listed property. The station was decommissioned in 1990, though hikers still use the trail. It was listed for its link to the Forest Preserve's fire protection work and as a representative early-20th-century fire tower, with a period of significance from 1918 to 1954.","period_of_significance":"1918-1954","architect_builder":"Aermotor Corporation (tower manufacturer)","architectural_style":"No style/utilitarian (fire tower)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The station was decommissioned by the state in 1990. The trail remains in active recreational use and is maintained by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. The observer's cabin was destroyed by vandals after 1990.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.936581-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000163.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000163/b2039fefd9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000163/b2039fefd9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Sweeney","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Regis_Fire_Tower_2010_t1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">John Sweeney</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Regis_Fire_Tower_2010_t1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312974","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Regis_Mountain_Fire_Observation_Station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591592"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/franklin-county/st-regis-mountain-fire-observation-station-05000163/"}