Fire lookout · Forest County, Pennsylvania
Marienville Fire Tower
A steel lookout built near Marienville in 1921; in 1952 it was reportedly dismantled and moved to Chestnut Ridge, Fayette County, and its current state is unconfirmed.
- Moved
- Access unknown
- Verified
Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Dismantled in 1952 and moved to Chestnut Ridge, Fayette County. No source read confirms whether it still stands there, and none places a tower at Marienville after 1952.
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
- sources disagree
- Type
- Cab on a towersteel (maker not named in the sources read)The design: Aermotor
- Built of
- Steel
- Built
- 1921 sources disagree
- Height
- 60 ft (18.3 m)
- Elevation
- 1,864 ft (568 m)
- Agency
- Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Forest County, Pennsylvania
- Coordinates
- 41.50171, −79.07994
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-pa-marienville
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.
The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at its recorded height.
Downloads about 3.4 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
- 1921 BuiltFirst fire tower in that section, steel, 60 feet, near Marienville, per an October 1921 newspaper item.Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- 1924 StaffedThe Marienville towerman is named in a 1924 item describing the towerman watching two bears near the tower.Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1924 and 1952
- 1952 MovedDismantled and re-erected at Chestnut Ridge, Fayette County, per 1952 sources. The 1952 item describes an 80-foot tower there, replacing Banning Knob.Sources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1952 and 2026
- 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 2, 2026 as US 1814, PA 74, nominated by Coltin Carr.Source: nhlr.org
- TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.
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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The National Historic Lookout Register lists a Marienville Fire Tower in Forest County, in the Cornplanter State Forest, as US 1814.1 It was added to the Register on January 2, 2026, and nominated by Coltin Carr.1
The tower went up in 1921.1,2 An October 1921 McKean Democrat item reports that the first fire tower in the section was going up, a steel structure 60 feet tall.1,2
A towerman was on duty there by 1924. A newspaper item from that year describes the towerman watching two bears roam the brush about a quarter mile from the tower.1,2
The tower's history takes a turn in 1952. The Forest Lookouts site says the tower was taken down and rebuilt at Chestnut Ridge in Fayette County that year.2 A November 1952 Charleroi Mail item, quoted on another page of the same site, reports plans for an 80-foot tower on Chestnut Ridge to replace the Banning Knob lookout. It says that tower was being moved from near Marienville.3
The heights disagree: the 1921 item says 60 feet and the 1952 item says 80 feet, so the two may not describe quite the same structure.1,3
We found no source that shows a tower standing at Marienville today, and we could not confirm whether the Chestnut Ridge tower still stands. The Register entry does not mention the 1952 move, and its photo is a postcard from about 1930 to 1945.1 Check with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry before planning a trip.1
- Marienville Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/pa/marienville-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Marienville - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/marienville.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Pennsylvania (A-f) - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/pennsylvania-a-f.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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Where sources disagree
We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.
Sources disagree on whether it still stands.
- Firefinder research: Moved
- NHLR: Standing
- Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky): Standing
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com): Gone
Research (2026-10-08) gives relocated where the source records give standing. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.
Sources disagree on the year it was built.
- NHLR: 1921
- Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky): 1933
Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.
Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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
- Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) (opens another site) Gave us: type, design, height, photos, links Pennsylvania fire towers StoryMap (ArcGIS) · No licence stated; facts only (county, agency, built year, height, builder). · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site) Gave us: photos, 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
- OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures (opens another site) Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- 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
- NHLR register entry US 1814 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Pennsylvania (A-f) - Forest Lookouts (Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com)) (opens another site)
- Fire Towers of Pennsylvania StoryMap (Shawn Lesitsky) (opens another site)
- Marienville (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
- OpenStreetMap node 6836026780 (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.