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Fire lookout · Suffolk County, New York

Kings Park Lookout Site

Suffolk Co., NY tower built 1948 and closed 1959; removed 1960; lower 47 ft is an observation platform at Oak Orchard WMA near Buffalo; original land privately held.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at Oak Orchard WMA

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Tower removed in 1960; the lower 47 ft section is an observation platform at Oak Orchard WMA; the original site is privately held land

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Oak Orchard platform: NYSFFLA says visitors can see the stenciled lettering; original site is privately held per the register

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor LS40 steel tower with wood steps and landing platforms, 80 ft (register and NYSFFLA)The design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Steel
Built
1948
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
283 ft (86 m)
Agency
New York State Conservation Department (erected 1948, per NYSFFLA)
Land
Unknown
Location
Suffolk County, New York
Coordinates
40.89400, −73.26517
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-kings-park

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.3 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. 1947 StaffedRanger Thomas Nugent said to be stationed at the tower since 1947, per a 1959 article quoted by Forest Lookouts; conflicts with 1948 build dateSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1948 BuiltErected by the Conservation Department in 1948Sources: firetower.org, nysffla.org
  3. 1948 First staffedOperated from 1948Source: nysffla.org
  4. 1959 AbandonedState abandoned lookout services in October 1959, per Forest LookoutsSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1959 ClosedClosed when the Conservation Department withdrew from active forest fire control on Long IslandSources: firetower.org, nysffla.org
  6. 1960 RemovedRemoved in 1960; the register and NYSFFLA name different agenciesSources: firetower.org, nysffla.org
  7. No record between 1960 and 2009
  8. 2009 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 18, 2009 as US 554, NY 8; nominated by Bill StarrSource: firetower.org
  9. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to Oak Orchard WMA.Source: FFLA
  10. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Kings Park fire lookout stood just north of town, close to the Meadow State Parkway interchange, in Suffolk County, New York.1,2 It was an 80-foot tower of the Aermotor LS40 type, built by the state's Conservation Department in 1948.2,1

Operations ran from 1948 until the lookout shut down in 1959.2 A July 1959 Long Islander article, quoted by Forest Lookouts, says forest ranger Thomas Nugent had been stationed at the tower since 1947.3 That is a year before the other sources date its construction, and we could not settle the difference. We found no record of a particular fire the tower reported.

The tower closed in 1959, the year the Conservation Department pulled back from active fire control on Long Island.2 Forest Lookouts says the state abandoned lookout service in October 1959 and that the title passed to Suffolk County.3 NYSFFLA says responsibility passed to town supervisors.2 The sources also differ on who removed the structure. The register says it was removed in 1960 by the state Conservation Commission, while NYSFFLA credits the Long Island State Park Commission.1,2

The lower 47 feet was kept, and it now serves as a viewing platform in the Oak Orchard Wildlife Management Area, near Buffalo.2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's New York list shows that platform as standing.4

The register says the original land is now privately held.1 We found no source that describes what remains at that site, so we cannot say whether anything is left there. NYSFFLA reports that stenciled words are still clearly visible on some of the steel at the Oak Orchard platform.2 Anyone visiting a wildlife area should check its access rules first.

  1. Kings Park Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ny/kings-park-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Long Island Fire Towers, NYSFFLA, https://www.nysffla.org/towers1.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Kings Park, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/kings-park.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. New York lookout list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ny/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

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

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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 Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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.