Palmer Hill

Palmer Hill, a one thousand one hundred forty-five-foot mountain north of Au Sable Forks in Clinton County, became an important fire observation point in the Adirondacks. In 1930, the Conservation Department built a sixty-foot Aermotor LS40 steel fire lookout tower and an observer’s cabin on its summit to supplement Whiteface Mountain, especially in early spring and late fall when fires were common and Whiteface could be hard to operate. The station reported nine fires in its first year. Regular lookout work ended in 1971, resumed from 1979 through 1988, and ended officially in 1989. The surviving tower reflects the era of mountaintop wildfire detection.

Black Brook, New York · United States