{"nrhp_refnum":"97000569","name":"Hunter Mountain Fire Tower","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Roughly following Hunter Brook from Spruceton Rd. to Hunter Mountain","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hunter","county":"Greene County","state":"NY","lat":42.18315656100006,"lon":-74.23889448145577,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Entertainment/Recreation","Conservation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A sixty-foot steel frame fire observation tower on the 4,045-foot summit of Hunter Mountain in Hunter, Greene County, New York, erected in 1917 and prefabricated by the Aermotor Corporation, with its original site and a nearly four-mile truck trail.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the tower is a representative and rare surviving example of an early twentieth-century prefabricated steel fire tower in New York. It reflects the state's fire detection network, its Forest Ranger program and the growth of recreational hiking in the Catskill and Adirondack preserves. The CCC-rebuilt access trail adds to its significance.","narrative":"Atop the 4,045-foot summit of Hunter Mountain in Greene County stands a sixty-foot steel fire tower, prefabricated by the Aermotor Corporation and erected in 1917 to replace a rustic log tower from 1909. A square steel and glass observation cab sits on a riveted angular steel frame reached by stairs with eight landings. In 1953 the tower was moved about a thousand feet to the northwest to correct blind spots, and the original site still retains its mounting bases and cabin foundation fragments. A nearly four-mile truck trail, rebuilt in the early 1930s by the Tannersville Civilian Conservation Corps camp, links the sites and the mountain base. The tower is significant as a rare surviving example of New York's early steel fire towers, one of four left in the Catskill Forest Preserve. It also marks the growth of the Forest Ranger program and recreational hiking. The station closed in 1990, and a 1995 storm damaged the cab.","period_of_significance":"1917 - 1947","architect_builder":"Aermotor Corporation (prefabricated the tower); Tannersville Civilian Conservation Corps camp (access trail)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant/not in use; the station was closed in 1990, the tower lost its roof and some windows in a 1995 storm, and repairs were reported to be underway.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.663118-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/97000569.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000569/acf383229a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000569/acf383229a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1909_Hunter_Mountain_firetower.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1909_Hunter_Mountain_firetower.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317978","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Mountain_Fire_Tower","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5944487"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/greene-county/hunter-mountain-fire-tower-97000569/"}