Fire lookout · Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Mauch Chunk Fire Tower
Also known as Bear Mountain
NHLR lists a Mauch Chunk tower in Weiser State Forest, Carbon County, built by CCC crews in 1936. Forest Lookouts describes a 1925 tower moved to Bear Mountain above Mauch Chunk; the sources do not link it to the 1936 tower. Current condition unverified.
- Standing
- Access unknown
- 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
- Type
- Cab on a towerAermotor steel fire towerThe design: Aermotor
- Built of
- Steel
- Built
- 1936
- Height
- Unknown
- Elevation
- 1,672 ft (510 m)
- Agency
- Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Carbon County, Pennsylvania
- Coordinates
- 40.87369, −75.69944
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-pa-mauch-chunk
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 3.5 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
- 1925 MovedChristman's fire tower moved to a higher point on Bear Mountain; a July 1925 item describes a 60-foot steel tower being erected for the district on a mountain locally known as Jew's Head, without naming Bear MountainSources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- 1936 BuiltRegister says built by CCC crews; sources do not say whether it replaced the 1925 towerSource: nhlr.org
- 1940 StaffedS. Aubrey Pry named as towerman at the Mauch Chunk fire tower; the page does not say which siteSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- 1943 FireForest fire surrounded the fire tower while Eleanor Steidle was manning it; site not statedSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1943 and 2018
- 2018 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 15, 2018; nominated by Wyatt CassidySource: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The Register places the Mauch Chunk tower in Weiser State Forest in Carbon County, and says Civilian Conservation Corps crews built this Aermotor steel tower in 1936.1 Earlier, a fire tower that had stood on Lewis Behrens's land at Christman's was moved in 1925 to a higher point on Bear Mountain, above Mauch Chunk.2,3
A July 1925 newspaper item described a steel tower, 60 feet high, being erected for the district, and said it had formerly stood at Christman's.2 The new site, the item said, was on a mountain locally known as Jew's Head; it does not name Bear Mountain.2 The Register's 1936 date does not mention that earlier tower, and I found no source that says whether the CCC tower replaced it.1,2
The Register says Righter Reabold staffed the tower for 17 years.1 A May 1940 item named S. Aubrey Pry as towerman at the Mauch Chunk fire tower.4 A May 1943 forest fire that surrounded the tower was reported while Eleanor Steidle was manning it.4 That page does not say which site those items describe.4
The Register listed the tower on January 15, 2018, with a nomination from Wyatt Cassidy, and says the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry administers it.1 I could not find a readable current source on its condition or on whether the public may climb it. Check with the Bureau before you go, and do not climb the structure until its status is confirmed.
- Mauch Chunk Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/pa/mauch-chunk-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Bear Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Eastern US), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/bear-mountain1.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Christman, Forest Lookouts (Eastern US), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/christman.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Mauch Chunk, Forest Lookouts (Eastern US), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/mauch-chunk.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) 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
- Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) (opens another site) Gave us: design, 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: 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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 1265 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Christman (Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com)) (opens another site)
- Mauch Chunk (Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com)) (opens another site)
- Fire Towers of Pennsylvania StoryMap (Shawn Lesitsky) (opens another site)
- Bear Mountain (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.