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Fire lookout · Columbia County, Pennsylvania

Aristes Tower Site

Also known as Aristes (centralia)

Steel lookout near Aristes, Columbia County: register says built 1919 and removed 1975; notices show 1920s rebuilds, staffing into the 1940s, and a 1976 removal sale.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Register says removed in 1975, but a May 1976 state notice still offered the tower for sale for removal

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerSteel tower; register calls it a steel Aermotor tower; newspaper notices describe an 80-foot steel tower from 1927-28The design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1919
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters
Land
Unknown
Location
Columbia County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
40.81980, −76.35460
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-aristes

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. 1919 BuiltRegister date: built by the AFPA; 1920-21 notices do not match it cleanlySource: firetower.org
  2. 1920 RebuiltDirectors of the Anthracite Forest Protective Association ordered reconstruction; a 64-foot steel observation tower was plannedSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1921 EventNotice says a tower had been erected in the vicinity of Aristes, ordered after a serious fire the year beforeSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1923 EventTower dynamited; property stolen from it recovered in Centralia; state said it would prosecuteSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1924 StaffedWatchman in the tower had to call Mount Carmel for fire fighters until a local fire company was formed at AristesSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1926 Condition assessmentState inspectors condemned the structure over weak concrete piers and unstable ladders; towerman Mat Smith put on patrol dutySource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1927 Replaced by a new structurePlan for an 80-foot steel tower at a new site near Aristes to replace an older tower several miles east that was unsafeSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1928 RebuiltMarch 1928 notice says the Aristes tower was reconstructed that yearSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1934 StaffedSylvester Beaver went on duty at the Aristes towerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1939 FireA fire was discovered south of Centralia soon after telephone connections were placedSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1947 StaffedBeaver had manned the Aristes tower for 18 consecutive years and had reported many forest firesSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  12. No record between 1947 and 1975
  13. 1975 RemovedRegister gives 1975 as the removal year; disputed by a May 1976 noticeSource: firetower.org
  14. 1976 EventState notice offers the Aristes Fire Tower for sale to the highest bidder for removalSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  15. No record between 1976 and 2008
  16. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: September 16, 2008Source: FFLOS register entry
  17. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Aristes tower stood in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, near the community of Aristes.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register lists it as a steel Aermotor tower put up in 1919 by the AFPA, and says it came down in 1975.2 Newspaper notices from 1920 to 1976, transcribed on a lookout-history site, tell a more tangled story.1

In September 1920 the directors of the Anthracite Forest Protective Association ordered the reconstruction of the Aristes fire tower.1 A Mount Carmel paper that month described a planned steel observation tower, 64 feet high on a 12-foot concrete base.1 By April 1921 another notice said a tower had been erected nearby, ordered after a serious fire the year before.1 The register's 1919 date does not sit neatly with these notices, so the first build year is unsettled.

A 1924 notice says the watchman had until then needed to call Mount Carmel for firefighters when a fire was found, and that a local fire company had been formed at Aristes.1 In 1926 state inspectors condemned the tower because its concrete piers were weak and its ladders unsteady.1 The Aristes towerman, Mat Smith, was put on patrol duty in the meantime.1 Sylvester Beaver was on duty in 1934, and by a 1947 notice he had manned the tower for 18 consecutive years.1

In 1923 the tower was dynamited, and property stolen from it was recovered in Centralia.1 The state was prepared to press charges, noting that vandals had now ruined public safeguards for the second time.1 A July 1939 notice reports a fire found south of Centralia shortly after telephone connections were made.1 A 1947 notice credited Beaver with spotting and reporting many forest fires.1

In 1927 the state announced an 80-foot steel tower at a new site near Aristes, to replace an older tower several miles east that had become unsafe.1 A March 1928 notice said the tower had been rebuilt that year and ranked among the state's highest.1 In 1938 the tower was still 80 feet tall, and a notice reported Beaver climbing its 108 steps several times a day.1

The register gives 1975 as the year the tower was removed.2 A May 1976 state notice still offered the tower for sale to the highest bidder, who would take it down, so the tower appears to have been standing that spring.1

No source we read describes what, if anything, stands on the site today, or whether the ground is open to visitors. A map database lists a "Centralia Fire Tower" in Conyngham Township, but its entry does not say whether that is this lookout or another structure.3

  1. Aristes (Centralia), Eastern US Forest Lookouts (newspaper notices, transcribed), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/aristes-centralia.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Aristes Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/pa/aristes-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Centralia Fire Tower, Mapcarta, https://mapcarta.com/22713192 (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, county, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, dates, 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 LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: location, height, 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
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, staffing, 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.