History of Fire Towers
in Rowan County
Article by Cindy Leach
Following the devastating forest fires of 1910 in Idaho, Washington and Montana, early detection of forest fires became a top priority with both national and state forest services.
Fire towers were established atop the highest elevations possible and equipped with Osborne fire finders so fire could easily be detected, pinpointed and fire crews dispatched. Many towers were erected by President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs such as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in 1934.
In the first five years of the CCC in Rowan County, they built 35 miles of hard surfaced roads, 12 fire reporting telephone stations, 3 large fire towers, 3 bridges and strung 45 miles of telephone line.
One of the biggest jobs undertaken by the CCC in the Southern Appalachian forests was road and trail construction. The enrollees built high-quality roads in some areas to open up the forest for timber harvesting or recreation, but many of the roads they built were of the type known as truck trails or "fire roads." These single-lane dirt roads could serve as firebreaks, but more important, they made it possible to bring truckloads of men and equipment quickly to the site of a forest fire. With the modern advent of new fire-control techniques, many of the old "fire roads" have been abandoned and others have not been maintained for lack of funds, but for 40 years the truck trails built by the CCC were a vital element in forest fire protection.
Fire towers had telephone and, later, radio connections to district ranger offices to report fires. The construction of telephone lines was another important CCC task. The telephone lines not only made reporting fires quicker, they also made possible the rapid assembly of firefighting crews where needed. Forest Service telephones were also available for use by local people in emergencies. This was much appreciated in areas where few people had private telephones. In some areas lines for private telephones were installed on the telephone poles put up by the CCC for Forest Service lines.
Many of the roads they built were of the type known as truck trails or "fire roads." These single-lane dirt roads could serve as firebreaks, but more important, they made it possible to bring truckloads of men and equipment quickly to the site of a forest fire. With the modern advent of new fire-control techniques, many of the old "fire roads" have been abandoned and others have not been maintained for lack of funds, but for 40 years the truck trails built by the CCC were a vital element in forest fire protection.
The original towers were made of wood but replaced later with steel. The towers were gradually replaced with airplanes beginning in the 1970’s and today few towers remain, mainly for their historical interest.
In Rowan County there were 3 towers – Hickory Flats, Triangle Tower, and Sugarloaf Mountain.
Hickory Flats Tower is located off KY 377 (Cranston Road) on Elk Lick Road. The wooden tower was built in 1934 by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and replace with steel in 1935. The US Forest Service stopped using the tower in the 1960’s. A tower man’s cabin sits at the base of the tower where fire watchers stayed when they weren’t on duty.
The 80-foot structure is topped with a 7 by 7 wooden watch tower known as the cab, and sits on a sixth-tenths of an acre of land donated by Jim Gitz of Muncie, Indiana. The cab was 200-square-foot room that contained a wood stove, cabinet, storage box, small table, stool, two cots and the Osborne fire finder.
Named for its inventor William Osborne, a forest service employee, the Osborne fire finder (1911) uses a circular map of location terrain with the fire town in the center. Two sighting spots, one on the other side a sliding ring, are rotated to “sight” smoke or fire. A graduated ring around the outside of the map gives a directorial bearing on the fire. To pinpoint the location, a second towers bearing is used to intersect the first and the location of the fire is established. The Morehead History and Railroad Museum has the Oborne finder from the Menifee County McCausey Ridge fire tower on display at the museum.
The first tower man was Claude White and others that followed were Roy O. Fraley, Junior Jefferson and Chester Stacy. By the mid-1970s, aircraft replaced fire lookouts, and the tower was abandoned. It was damaged in arson on December 3, 2008, and later restored to serve as an overlook. The tower is being maintained by the Rt. 377 Fire Department and was placed on the National Historic Fire Tower Register in 2003.
Only the fourth fire tower to be registered in the Blue Grass State, and the first project of the new Kentucky Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association. The 80’ steel Aermotor tower with 7’x7’ metal cab is the late model design with steel mesh steps and landings with full protective railings. When it went out of active service, the National Forest land was exchanged and the tower nearly forgotten. The site was transferred to the Hwy 377 Rural Fire District who maintain the site with the Kentucky Forest Fire Lookout Association.
The Hickory Flats Fire Tower is now available for overnight stays -https://www.moreheadtourism.com/sleep/cabins
Triangle Tower is located off Dry Creek Road. The cabin is gone but part of the tower remains.
The CCC at Clearfield was planning to make a recreation center at Triangle Tower. It would include a park of approximately one acre, with parking for twenty-two cars, and the building of two observatories on the rock ledges adjacent to the tower. When completed it would have a picnic grove with benches, fireplace, water fountains and hydrants and a forest camp picnic shelter. There would also be a system of paths made of crushed stone winding through the park connecting with various points of interest.
Sugarloaf Mountain Tower was located off Sugarloaf Mountain Road –tower was dismantled and removed, nothing remains
Sources: Rowan County Historical Society Newsletter, various Rowan County News Newspapers, “Kentucky’s Yesterdays” –Stuart Sprague, Bessie Birchfield papers, http://npshistory.com/publications/usfs/region/8/history/chap4.htm
