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Fire lookout · Somerset County, Pennsylvania

Negro Mountain Tower Site

Register lists the 1916 Negro Mountain tower as no longer standing, but a metal observation tower stands near the summit today; sources do not say if it is the same.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Summit reached by car or hiking trails in Forbes State Forest.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
lhhv.org lists a 0.8-mile High Point Trail.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towersteel Aermotor towerThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1916
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Forbes State Forest
Land
State land
Location
Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
39.80640, −79.17370
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-negro-mountain

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 3.5 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

  1. 1916 BuiltRegister build date for the steel Aermotor tower; a 1921 report already describes the tower, and a 1934 report says it was erected (see notes)Source: firetower.org
  2. 1921 StaffedObserver on duty at the Negro Mountain tower, per a December 1921 newspaperSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 EventA 1934 newspaper says the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters erected a forest fire observation tower on the siteSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 2008
  5. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 16, 2008Source: firetower.org
  6. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. 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 (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Negro Mountain tower was on the ridge known as Negro Mountain, at 3,213 feet above sea level, the highest elevation in Pennsylvania.1,2 Mount Davis, the state's highest point, lies on the crest of that ridge.2

The register of former lookouts gives 1916 as the build year for the steel Aermotor tower and says it is no longer standing.3 A December 1921 newspaper report already describes a six-mile telephone line to the tower and an observer on duty there.1 A 1934 report, however, says the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters had erected a forest fire observation tower on the site, and that the tower commands a view of 400,000 acres of forest land.1 The sources do not reconcile these dates.3,1

A Mount Davis page places a metal observation tower, fitted with a regional relief map, close to the true high point.2 A state forest article says a 1930s-era observation tower at the high point is being fitted with new signs for visitors who cannot climb it.4 Neither source says whether that is the structure the register calls gone, so the register's status is marked disputed.2,4

Mount Davis may be reached by car or on several hiking trails in the Forbes State Forest.2

  1. Negro Mountain, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/negro-mountain1.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Mt. Davis, lhhv.org, https://lhhv.org/mt-davis/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Negro Mountain Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/pa/negro-mountain-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Inside Forbes State Forest: Trails, History, and Hidden Wonders, paparksandforests.org, https://paparksandforests.org/think-outside/inside-forbes-state-forest-trails-history-and-hidden-wonders-with-ed-callahan-district-forester/ (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, agency, ownership, 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, agency, access, visiting details, 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.