Mount Morris, a 3,117-foot Adirondack peak just south-southwest of Tupper Lake in northern New York, became important in both regional exploration and forest protection. Verplanck Colvin first climbed it in 1870 and used it as a survey station, with summit signal stations built in 1882 and again in 1896. In 1909 the summit became a fire observation station, and in 1919 a 22-foot steel fire lookout tower was erected there. The tower remained in use through the 1971 fire season before aerial detection took on a larger role. Geologically, the mountain is noted for crystalline gneiss at the summit and Precambrian Morris Granite on its western slopes.