Penn Mountain, a 1,808-foot peak in New York’s Tug Hill region west of East Steuben, was the site of a steel fire lookout tower that served the surrounding forest. Built by the Conservation Department in 1950 as an 80-foot Aermotor LS40 structure, the tower entered service in 1951. Its first year was notably quiet, with no fires reported and only four visitors recorded. Regular fire lookout operations ended in 1971, though the tower briefly returned to use in 1974 after heavy wind damage near Forestport. It soon closed again and was removed in 1976, leaving Penn Mountain as a former forest observation point in New York’s woodland protection system.