FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Jefferson County, Pennsylvania

Hays Lot

Also known as Hays Lookout Tower

Jefferson County, PA fire tower in use by April 1922, with a visitor register past 7,500 names by 1939; the 1994 end of fire watch rests on one secondary source.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

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

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotorThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1921
Height
86 ft (26.2 m)
Elevation
2,014 ft (614 m)
Agency
Pennsylvania Department of Forestry, per a 1922 report; current agency not confirmed
Land
State land
Location
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
41.31727, −78.99433
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-hays-lot

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 3.7 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. 1921 BuiltEstablished in 1921 per onX; the earliest date we foundSource: onxmaps.com
  2. 1922 StaffedSherman Seanor hired as watchman, reported April 1922Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1923 StaffedHerman Seanor described as towerman, December 1923Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1923 and 1938
  5. 1938 EventUSGS survey mark described as set directly under the tower's centerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1939 EventVisitor register passed 7,500 names by September 1939Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1945 BuiltSource: Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky)
  8. No record between 1945 and 1994
  9. 1994 EventonX says the tower was used for fire detection until 1994; single secondary sourceSource: onxmaps.com
  10. 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.

Hays Lot is a fire tower in northern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, near Sigel.1 The earliest date we found is 1921. An onX trail note says the tower was established that year and used for forest fire detection until 1994.2 By April 1922 the New Castle News reported that Sherman Seanor, of Sigel, had been hired as the tower's watchman.1

The state's Department of Forestry ran the lookout in those years.1 In August 1922 District Forester Zerby reported to the department's Harrisburg office that more than 100 visitors had come on Sundays that summer.1 He planned benches and tables among the trees at the base of the tower, along with a walled-in spring and an open fireplace where visitors could cook a lunch.1 By December 1923 Herman Seanor was the towerman.1

Visitors signed a register book kept at the tower.1 By September 1939 the Clarion Democrat counted more than 7,500 names.1 Most came from Jefferson County and nearby counties. Visitors came from every state, along with an odd visitor from Canada and China.1 A 1938 U.S. Geological Survey description places a survey marker directly under the tower's center, so the tower stood by then.1

We did not find a description of the tower's design or height. The 1994 end of fire watch comes from the onX note alone, and we could not confirm from the pages we read whether the tower still stands.2

We found no current access information. Check with the managing forest office before you visit, and do not climb a tower that is closed or private.

  1. Hays Lot, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/hays-lot.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Firetower Road, onX Maps, https://www.onxmaps.com/offroad/trails/us/pennsylvania/firetower-road-n2qvmx5r5q95 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Hays Lot
Hays LotPhoto: Shawn Lesitsky -- PA Fire Towers StoryMap (Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps) · source

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Sources

  1. Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) Gave us: name, county, type, what it is built of, design, height, status, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Pennsylvania fire towers StoryMap (ArcGIS) · No licence stated; facts only (county, agency, built year, height, builder). · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. 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
  3. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: location, elevation, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, agency, 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.