FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lewis County, New York

New Boston

Lewis County, NY tower built by the Conservation Department in 1950, closed 1970 and dismantled 1982; now standing at Thompson Park Zoo in Watertown.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at the Thompson Park Zoo

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Structure moved to Thompson Park Zoo in Watertown; no source read describes the New Boston site today

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. Sources disagree on when it reopened (2004 or 2016). Climbing today is not confirmed.

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

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor LS40 towerThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1950
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
New York Conservation Department (built); Thompson Park Zoo, Watertown (current host)
Land
Unknown
Location
Lewis County, New York
Coordinates
43.83533, −75.73475
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-new-boston

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.8 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. 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 by DEC personnel and moved to facilities in HarrisvilleSource: nysffla.org
  5. No record between 1982 and 1999
  6. 1999 MovedMoved into Thompson Park Zoo, Watertown, as a community educational exhibit (2016 report)Source: firelookout.org
  7. 2003 RestoredZoo restored the tower on its grounds; it stayed closed to the public until liability insurance was securedSource: firelookout.org
  8. 2004 EventGrand opening at the zoo that summer; the 2004 report says the tower is open to the publicSource: firelookout.org
  9. 2016 RestoredFFLA $500 grant for repairs; work completed in the spring. The chapter's list says it reopened to the public at the zoo in 2016Sources: nysffla.org, firelookout.org, nysffla.org
  10. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to the Thompson Park Zoo.Source: FFLA
  11. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Conservation Department erected an 80-foot Aermotor LS40 tower at New Boston, in Lewis County, in 1950.1,2 The state chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association places it north of State Route 177, in the hamlet of New Boston.1

The chapter's tower history ties the closing to the arrival of aerial detection, and says the tower was shut after the 1970 season ended.1 In 1982 DEC personnel dismantled it and moved the pieces to facilities in Harrisville.1

The Thompson Park Zoo in Watertown next took the tower on loan.1 The chapter's 2016 report says it was moved into the park in 1999, where it now serves as a community educational exhibit.3

The chapter's 2003 report says the zoo restored the tower but kept it closed until it could secure liability insurance for people who climb it.4 The 2004 report describes a grand opening that summer and says the tower was open to the public afterward.5 The chapter's tower history instead says it reopened to the public in 2016, after restoration.1 The sources disagree on when visitors were first let back in, and we could not settle the date.

The Forest Fire Lookout Association gave a $500 restoration grant for repairs in 2016, and the work was finished that spring.6,3

Today the tower stands on the zoo grounds in Watertown, in Jefferson County.2,3 A 2025 chapter newsletter mentions a garden at its base, which the ADK Black River Chapter maintains.7 We could not confirm whether visitors may climb it now. Check with the zoo before you go, and do not climb it unless staff say it is open.

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains at the original New Boston site.

  1. Adirondack Fire Towers and Tug Hill Fire Towers, Forest Fire Lookout Association New York State Chapter, https://nysffla.org/towers6.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. New York Fire Towers, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ny/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  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 2026-10-10). ↩
  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 2026-10-10). ↩
  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 2026-10-10). ↩
  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 2026-10-10). ↩
  7. New York State chapter newsletter, May 2025, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.nysffla.org/News2025/2025%20May%20final.pdf (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.