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Fire lookout · Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

Holmes Hurst Tower Site

Lycoming County, PA steel Aermotor fire tower erected 1921 on Holmes Hill; moved in 1938 and renamed Sprout Point, where it was removed in 1985.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Moved in 1938 and renamed Sprout Point; the Sprout Point tower was removed in 1985. No source describes the Holmes Hill site today.

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 Aermotor towerThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1921
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Department of forestry (per 1921 newspaper item)
Land
Unknown
Location
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
41.47850, −76.80200
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-holmes-hurst

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.3 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 BuiltErected for the forestry department; hauled by truck to its Holmes Hill site, per an Aug 4, 1921 newspaper itemSources: firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1922 StaffedM.E. McNett of Leolyn named as towerman in an April 20, 1922 itemSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1922 and 1937
  4. 1937 EventOct 16, 1937 item (Gazette and Bulletin) said the Holmes Hurst tower near Masten would be dismantled after the fall season and a new tower erected on Sprout PointSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1938 MovedFFLOS: moved in 1938 and renamed Sprout Point; the Sprout Point entry also gives 1938 as its build yearSources: firetower.org, firetower.org
  6. No record between 1938 and 1985
  7. 1985 RemovedThe Sprout Point tower, the structure moved from Holmes Hurst, was removed in 1985 per FFLOSSource: firetower.org
  8. No record between 1985 and 2008
  9. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: September 16, 2008Source: FFLOS register entry
  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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Holmes Hurst tower was a steel Aermotor fire tower put up on Holmes Hill, between Leolyn and Shunk, in Lycoming County.1,2 A newspaper item from August 1921 says the forestry department's new tower had just been hauled by truck to its site.2

An April 1922 item named M.E. McNett, of Leolyn, as towerman on Holmes Hill.2 An October 1937 item said the tower near Masten would be taken down after the fall season, while a new one was going up nearby, on higher ground at Sprout Point.2

The register says the tower was moved in 1938 and renamed Sprout Point.1 The 1937 item and the register differ by about a year, and we have used the register's 1938 date for the move.1,2 The Sprout Point entry gives 1938 as the build year of that structure, says it came from Holmes Hurst, and gives 1985 as its removal year.3

Forest Lookouts places Sprout Point in Lycoming County's state forest, which that page spells Tiadachton.4 We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains at either the Holmes Hill or the Sprout Point site today, or whether visitors can reach them.

  1. Holmes Hurst Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/pa/holmes-hurst-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Holmes Hurst, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/holmes-hurst.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Sprout Point Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/pa/sprout-point-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Sprout Point, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/sprout-point.html (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, 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, status, 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.