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Fire lookout · Hampden County, Massachusetts

Tolland Tower Site

Also known as Lair Mountain (Tolland)

Lair Mountain tower in Tolland: a 1934 60-foot CCC-built Aermotor, sold on eBay in 2003; a 2005 survey found only footings remain.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Sold on eBay in 2003; a 2005 survey by New England FFLA members found only footings remain (FFLOS).

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower60-foot Aermotor tower built in 1934 by CCC crews from camp 64 in Chester, with ECW funds (FFLOS)The design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1915
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
1,695 ft (517 m)
Agency
Unknown
Land
Unknown
Location
Hampden County, Massachusetts
Coordinates
42.13213, −73.02525
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ma-tolland

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.7 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1915 BuiltFFLOS dates the first 40-foot Aermotor to 1915 and calls it the former Becket Mountain tower; other accounts give 1913 or 1914Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1916 MovedTower moved from Becket Mountain to Lair's Hill and given a 20-foot extension (1916 state report; Becket history). 1915 rebuild on Lair also reportedSources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1916 and 1934
  4. 1934 BuiltNew 60-foot Aermotor built by CCC boys from camp 64 in Chester with ECW fundsSource: firetower.org
  5. No record between 1934 and 1958
  6. 1958 AlteredNew road and power line addedSource: firetower.org
  7. 1961 AlteredTwo-way radios installedSource: firetower.org
  8. No record between 1961 and 2003
  9. 2003 RemovedTower sold on eBaySource: firetower.org
  10. 2005 Condition assessmentSurvey by New England FFLA members confirmed only footings remainSource: firetower.org
  11. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 3, 2008Source: firetower.org
  12. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Lair Mountain in Tolland got its first fire tower by moving one over from Becket Mountain, though the sources give different dates.1,2,3 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says the first tower, a 40-foot Aermotor, was built in 1915 and was the former Becket Mountain tower.1 A 1916 state report, quoted on a lookout history site, says a 30-foot tower that had been in use on Becket for three years was taken down, moved to Lair's Hill, and extended by 20 feet.2 A Becket Mountain history gives 1913 for the original build and 1916 for the move, and it also reports an account of a 1914 build and a rebuild on Lair in 1915.3

In 1934 a new 60-foot Aermotor tower was built by CCC crews from camp 64 in Chester, using ECW funds.1 A new road and a power line followed in 1958, and two-way radios came in 1961.1

The tower was sold on eBay in 2003.1 A 2005 survey by New England FFLA members found that only the footings were left.1 No later source we read describes the summit or those footings.1,3

  1. Tolland Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ma/tolland-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Lair Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/lair-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Becket Mountain Lookout, willhiteweb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/appalachian_trail/fire_lookouts/becket_mountain/tower_055.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Photo of Tolland Tower Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: height, links easternuslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.