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Fire lookout · Suffolk County, New York

Stony Hill Lookout Site

Suffolk County Aermotor LS-40 tower of 1930 near Amagansett; observers reported fires in 1935-36; closed 1959, removed 1960; land now privately held.

Private land

No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. Register says the land is now privately held; no public access is described in the sources read

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Dismantled and removed in 1960; the register says the land is now privately held; no source describes what remains on the site

Visit & stay

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

Access

Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor LS-40, 73 ft tower per NYSFFLA list and Starr list; the register gives 73 ft concrete footings with steel structure, wood steps and landing platformsThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Steel
Built
1930
Height
73 ft (22.3 m)
Elevation
200 ft (61 m)
Agency
New York State Conservation Department; funds for the tower came from the Town of East Hampton and private subscription
Land
Unknown
Location
Suffolk County, New York
Coordinates
40.99017, −72.14350
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-stony-hill

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.

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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. 1930 BuiltErected by the Conservation Department in 1930; operational 1931 per NYSFFLA listSources: nysffla.org, nhlr.org, firetower.org
  2. 1935 StaffedObserver W.S. Miller reported 43 fires and 261 visitors for the year 1935Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1936 StaffedTower reopened by State order in April 1936; Warden S. Miller re-appointed as observerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1936 and 1959
  5. 1959 AbandonedState abandoned lookout service in a cost-cutting move; title transferred to Suffolk CountySource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1959 ClosedClosed when the Conservation Department withdrew from forest fire control on Long IslandSource: nysffla.org
  7. 1960 RemovedDismantled and removed in 1960; NYSFFLA credits a local demolition contractor, the register the state Conservation CommissionSources: nysffla.org, firetower.org
  8. No record between 1960 and 2009
  9. 2009 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 18, 2009; nominated by Bill StarrSource: firetower.org
  10. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Stony Hill is in Suffolk County, near Amagansett on eastern Long Island.1 Money to buy the tower came from the Town of East Hampton and from private subscribers, and the Conservation Department erected it in 1930.1 It became operational in 1931.1

The NYSFFLA list and the Starr list both describe a 73-foot Aermotor LS-40 tower.1,2 The register attaches the 73 feet to the concrete footings and describes a steel structure with wood steps and landing platforms.3

In 1935 the observer, W.S. Miller, logged 43 fires and 261 visitors.4 In April and May 1936 he reported thirty-four fires.4 That spring the State reopened the tower and re-appointed Warden S. Miller as observer.4

In October 1959 the State abandoned its lookout service to cut costs, and the title went to Suffolk County.4 The tower was closed in 1959.1 The NYSFFLA list credits a local demolition contractor with taking it down in 1960.1 The register credits the state Conservation Commission with the 1960 removal instead.3

The register says the land is now privately held.3 The NYSFFLA list, the Starr list and the register all record the tower as removed.1,2,3 We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains at the site, or whether visitors may enter, so anyone curious about the spot should ask the landowner before going.

  1. Long Island Fire Towers, Forest Fire Lookout Association New York State Chapter, http://www.nysffla.org/towers1.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Listing of the Fire Towers Operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bill Starr, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/media/2974/new_york_fire_tower_list_by_bill_starr_3-14-11.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Stony Hill Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ny/stony-hill-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Stony Hill, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/stony-hill.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Stony Hill Lookout 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, 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.