FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Berks County, Pennsylvania

Hopewell Tower

Hopewell Tower: an 80-ft steel tower built in 1935 with federal funds and CCC/French Creek labor; registered 2012; current access not verified.

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 tower80-foot steel McClintic-Marshall tower with 7x7 foot cabThe design: McClintic-Marshall
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
998 ft (304 m)
Agency
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
Land
State land
Location
Berks County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
40.20156, −75.81083
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-hopewell

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 3.3 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. 1933 EventDepartment of Forests and Waters selected a site in Union Township; about ten acres deeded for $1 by Mrs. Louise Brooks of BirdsboroSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1935 Built80-foot steel tower erected with federal funds; NHLR credits the CCC/French Creek Recreation projectSources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  3. 1935 EventTower placed in service May 1, 1935; a picnic park was planned around itSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1936 AlteredWorks Progress Administration began finishing the access road to the tower, which a 1936 item calls the Williams Hill fire towerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1939 AlteredAbout 50 men cleared brush and built a 1 1/2 mile road at the Hopewell fire towerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1939 StaffedGeorge H. Wolf named as lookout in a Reading Times itemSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1939 and 1990
  8. 1990 EventForest Fire Lookout Association formed at a meeting in the District 17 garage at French Creek State Park, followed by a tour of the Hopewell tower and ground cabin (early 1990)Source: firelookout.org
  9. No record between 1990 and 2012
  10. 2012 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on May 13, 2012Source: nhlr.org
  11. 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

In late 1933 the state Department of Forests and Waters chose a site in Union Township, Berks County, for a new fire observation tower.1 The land was deeded by Mrs. Louise Brooks of Birdsboro, who gave about ten acres for a consideration of $1, on the understanding that it would return to her or her heirs once the tower was no longer used for fire watch.1 A 1934 item names the donor as Mrs. Edward Brooke, so the sources do not agree on her name.1

Federal funds paid for the steel tower, and the state put it into service on May 1, 1935.1 The 1935 report called it eighty feet high and said a picnic park would be built around it.1 The National Historic Lookout Register credits the Civilian Conservation Corps and the French Creek recreation project with building the tower that year.2

Work on the site continued for several years. In August 1936 the Works Progress Administration started work on finishing the road to the tower, which a 1936 item calls the Williams Hill fire tower. In September 1939 about 50 men were clearing brush and constructing a road about a mile and a half long there.1 A 1939 item named George H. Wolf as the lookout and described a 90-foot steel tower in the Geigertown area.1 That height does not match the 80 feet given elsewhere, so the item may describe a different structure.

The Forest Fire Lookout Association traces its start to a gathering in early 1990 at the District 17 garage in French Creek State Park, after which the group toured the nearby Hopewell tower and its ground cabin.3 The 2012 register entry includes photos of the cab interior, which suggests the tower was standing then.2

The register lists the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry as administrator, with the Pennsylvania Forest Fire Wardens Association District 17 as a cooperator.2 It places the tower in William Penn Forest, while the 1930s reports put it near Hopewell Furnace in Union Township.2,1 I did not find an official statement on whether visitors can climb the tower, so check with the Bureau of Forestry or French Creek State Park before you plan a visit.

  1. Hopewell - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Eastern US Lookouts (Weebly), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/hopewell.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Hopewell Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/pa/hopewell-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Forest Fire Lookout Association History, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/about-us/ffla-history/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hopewell Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cab interior
Cab interiorPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cabin
CabinPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cabin interior
Cabin interiorPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hopewell Tower
Hopewell TowerPhoto: Shawn Lesitsky -- PA Fire Towers StoryMap (Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps) · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) Gave us: height, ownership, photos, links Pennsylvania fire towers StoryMap (ArcGIS) · No licence stated; facts only (county, agency, built year, height, builder). · retrieved 4 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.