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Fire lookout · Ulster County, New York

Venetia Lookout (from Florida, now at Upper Esopus)

Also known as Upper Esopus

Florida Venetia tower (Sarasota County, built 1956) dismantled in 2019 and re-erected at the Catskill Interpretive Center in Mount Tremper, NY; opening date unconfirmed.

Original site: Venetia

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. In August 2019 the tower was not open; a fence was to be put up, with climbing only when paid staff were present. Current access not confirmed.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerObservation tower with 106 steps (Florida newspapers, 1969 and 1988)
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1956
Height
79 ft (24.0 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Catskill Interpretive Center, Mount Tremper
Land
Unknown
Location
Ulster County, New York
Coordinates
42.02851, −74.27099
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-venetia-at-upper-esopus

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.

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. 1956 BuiltConstructed in 1956 at Venetia, Sarasota County, Florida (1969 Tampa Tribune article, transcribed by Forest Lookouts)Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1956 and 1974
  3. 1974 EventDivision of Forestry said the tower would lose its full-time spotter in November; in 1975 a Division spokesman said it would not close, and the district forester credited federal jobs-program money with restoring full staffingSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1988 StaffedA state forest ranger was still climbing the tower to watch for fires, per a 1988 Tampa Tribune articleSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1988 and 2019
  6. 2019 MovedRe-erected at the Catskill Interpretive Center in Mount Tremper by Davana LLC; top section lifted by crane. Not open to the public as of the August 2019 newsletter.Sources: nysffla.org, nysffla.org
  7. 2019 RemovedTower dismantled for removal in March 2019; parts shipped to New YorkSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  8. Date unknown MovedMoved from Venetia, Florida to Upper Esopus.Source: FFLA
  9. 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 tower began in Florida, near Venice, where a state spotter watched for fires.1 A 1969 Tampa Tribune article places it on US 41 between Venice and the Englewood road, says it was constructed in 1956, and says a couple had been working it since 1952.1 A 1974 Sarasota newspaper report puts it on State Road 775 about four miles south of Venice, and says it would lose its full-time spotter in November.1 In 1975 a Florida Division of Forestry spokesman said the tower would not close, and the district forester credited federal jobs-program money with restoring full staffing.1 A 1988 article still had a state forest ranger climbing its steps, and gave the height as 85 feet with 106 steps.1

The tower was dismantled for removal in March 2019, and its parts were shipped to New York.1 The April 2019 newsletter from the state chapter says Dave Vana was taking it apart while spending time in the south.2 Later in 2019 Davana LLC re-erected it at the Catskill Interpretive Center in Mount Tremper, lifting the top into place with a crane.3

The August 2019 newsletter said the tower was not yet open. The NYSDEC was to erect a fence, and climbing was to be limited to times when paid staff were present.3 We have not found a source that gives the date it opened to the public. OpenStreetMap lists the height as 24 metres, which is shorter than the 85 feet given in the Florida articles.4

The tower was put up at the Catskill Interpretive Center in Mount Tremper in 2019, but we have not confirmed its current access. Check with the center before going up, and do not climb it while it is fenced or closed.3

  1. Venetia - Forest Lookouts (Sarasota County, Florida), Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/venetia.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter newsletter, April 2019, https://www.nysffla.org/Newsletters/2019-04.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter newsletter, August 2019, https://www.nysffla.org/Newsletters/2019-08.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Upper Esopus Fire Tower, OpenStreetMap node 11643003179, https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/11643003179 (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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: height, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 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.