FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Jefferson County, New York

New Boston Lookout (now at the Thompson Park Zoo)

Also known as Thompson Park Zoo

New Boston (Lewis County) Conservation Department tower of 1950, closed 1970 and removed 1982; loaned to Thompson Park Zoo in Watertown, restored in 2016 and open to the public there.

Original site: New Boston

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. On display on the Thompson Park Zoo grounds in Watertown; the chapter's list says it reopened to the public at the zoo in 2016; current climbing rules not confirmed

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor LS40 tower, erected by the Conservation Department in 1950 at New BostonThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1950
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Thompson Park Zoo, Watertown (current host); built by the NYS Conservation Department
Land
Unknown
Location
Jefferson County, New York
Coordinates
43.96255, −75.88295
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-new-boston-at-thompson-park-zoo

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.

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

History

Then and now

  1. 1950 BuiltErected by the Conservation Department as an 80-foot Aermotor LS40 at New BostonSource: nysffla.org
  2. No record between 1950 and 1970
  3. 1970 ClosedClosed at the end of the 1970 season, with the advent of aerial detectionSource: nysffla.org
  4. 1982 RemovedDismantled and removed by DEC personnel to the Harrisville facilitiesSource: nysffla.org
  5. No record between 1982 and 1999
  6. 1999 MovedMoved into Thompson Park Zoo, Watertown, as a community education exhibitSource: firelookout.org
  7. 2003 RestoredThompson Park Zoo restored the tower on its grounds; it stayed closed to the public until liability insurance could be securedSource: firelookout.org
  8. 2004 EventGrand opening at the zoo that summer; the tower is reported open to the publicSource: firelookout.org
  9. 2016 EventFFLA restoration grant awarded for renovation of the Thompson Park Zoo tower in Watertown ($500 FFLA grant).Source: firelookout.org
  10. 2016 RestoredFFLA $500 restoration grant for repairs; work completed that spring; the chapter's list says it reopened to the public at the zooSources: nysffla.org, firelookout.org, nysffla.org
  11. Date unknown MovedMoved from New Boston to the Thompson Park Zoo.Source: FFLA
  12. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 Conservation Department erected an 80-foot Aermotor LS40 tower at New Boston in 1950.1 It stood north of State Route 177 in the hamlet of New Boston, in Lewis County.1,2

The state chapter's list says the tower closed at the end of the 1970 season, when aerial detection came in.1 DEC personnel took it down in 1982 and moved the pieces to its Harrisville facilities.1 We found no record of notable fires or named observers at this site.

The tower was later loaned to the Thompson Park Zoo in Watertown.1 The chapter's 2016 report says it was moved into the park in 1999, where it serves as a community educational exhibit.3 The 2003 report says the zoo restored it but kept it closed until it could secure liability insurance for people who climb.4 The 2004 report says a grand opening followed that summer, after which the tower was open to the public.5

In 2016 the chapter awarded a $500 grant for repairs, and the work was finished that spring.6,3 The chapter's list says the tower reopened to the public at the zoo that year.1 That does not match the 2004 opening, and the sources we read do not explain the gap.

Today the tower stands on the zoo grounds in Watertown, Jefferson County.2 A 2025 chapter newsletter calls it the former New Boston fire tower and mentions a garden at its base, which a local ADK chapter maintains.7 We could not confirm whether visitors may climb it now. Check with the zoo before you visit, and do not climb it unless staff say it is open.

  1. Adirondack Fire Towers and Tug Hill Fire Towers, Forest Fire Lookout Association New York State Chapter, https://nysffla.org/towers6.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Fire Towers, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hiking/fire-towers (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. New York State Annual Report for 2016, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ny-2016.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. New York State Annual Report for 2003, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ny-2003.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. New York State Annual Report for 2004, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ny-2004.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. FFLA Restoration Grant Award, Forest Fire Lookout Association New York State Chapter newsletter, April 2016, https://www.nysffla.org/Newsletters/2016/2016-04.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  7. New York State chapter newsletter, May 2025, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.nysffla.org/News2025/2025%20May%20final.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter (nysffla.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the chapter newsletter it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR and FFLA records (the chapter publishes none). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.