Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station
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Balsam Lake Mountain
Fire Observation Station |
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Tower in 2008
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| Location | Summit of Balsam Lake Mountain, Hardenburgh, New York |
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| Nearest city | Kingston, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°4′11″N 74°34′28″W / 42.06972°N 74.57444°WCoordinates: 42°4′11″N 74°34′28″W / 42.06972°N 74.57444°W |
| Area | 10.9 acres (4.4 ha) |
| Built | 1930 |
| Architect | Aermotor Corporation |
| MPS | Fire Observation Stations of New York State Forest Preserve MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 01001038 |
| Added to NRHP | September 23, 2001 |
The Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station is located at the summit of the mountain of that name in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States. It comprises a steel frame fire lookout tower, the observer's cabin and privy and the jeep road to the complex.
Balsam Lake Mountain, the westernmost of the Catskill High Peaks, was the site of the first fire lookout tower in New York in 1887, when a nearby sportsmen's club built it to protect their lands below the mountain. It was later taken over by the state, which built several towers culminating in the current one. The tower was manned until 1988.
After being closed for much of the 1990s, the tower was proposed for demolition as one of five remaining on state-owned Forest Preserve land in the Catskill Park. Hikers and local residents rallied to save it, and after the state's Department of Environmental Conservation changed its mind, it was restored and reopened. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, the highest-elevation property in Ulster County to be listed.
The nominated property includes a 500-foot (152 m) square area around the tower and the entire 3-mile (4.8 km) jeep road to the summit from Mill Brook Road between Balsam Lake Mountain and Dry Brook Ridge, now marked as a hiking trail. This gives it a total of 10.9 acres (4.4 ha) of land, most of it owned by the state but some of it property of the descendants of Jay Gould, whose Furlow Lodge estate is in the area. The tower and road are considered contributing resources; three other buildings near the tower are related to it in function but are non-contributing.
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