Friday, July 8, 2016

Firetowers

As a kid I remember walking up to Lee Firetower and climbing up to see the ranger. The tower swayed back and forth in the wind and it was an unsettling experience and at the same time exhilarating to see the entire forest. Some time in the late 80's the firetower was taken down. Satellites replaced the eyes of the ranger and something was lost. I wished that I could have re-erected it on the top of my hill a bit lower view for it but it would have been wonderful. I have even looked at other firetowers for sale, but the cost of moving and re-erecting them is out of my budget. I would imagine keeping people from climbing it and the insurance, and maintenance would also be costly. Of course in my child mind none of that mattered...just seeing it again would be great. A friend who writes another blog reminded me of the Lee Firetower with her recent post about the Cherry Springs Tower, which is still there. Here is a link to her blog. The firetower originally costs only $621 dollars to erect. Now even for an old one it would be in the 10's of thousands. A salute to the Lee Firetower. Mountain girl, Paula, Logging out.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

WoW! Very interesting,yea back in the 1980's I used to go dirt biking with my father & friend, I was in my teens, I remember climbing up the old abandoned fire tower up there, I guess it's gone now according to your post,we also had fixed the cemetery stones with cement & cleaned up that old Leetonia cemetery on the hill, I just googled Leetonia & seen your post,we used to camp in Cedar Run when the train still came through there,but now it's a rail-trail.those were great memories! Nathan Hahn Bath,Pa.

eaglebear said...

Thanks Nathan for your comment. You aren't that far away come visit Leetonia sometime. My understanding is the firetower was taken down in the late 80's so you were some of the last to see it.