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Fire lookout · Clearfield County, Pennsylvania

Old Town Tower Site

Former Clearfield County, PA steel lookout east of Clearfield, built October 1928. A 1976 newspaper says it was pulled down; the register says 1978.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Pulled down in June 1976 according to a newspaper report; the register gives 1978. No source describes what remains 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 tower, about 80 feet, equipped with an aviation beacon by 1929The design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1928
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters (as named in 1928 and 1953 reports)
Land
Unknown
Location
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
41.01630, −78.42510
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-old-town

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 its recorded height.

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. 1928 BuiltBuilt October 1928 as a steel towerSources: firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1928 and 1976
  3. 1976 RemovedNewspaper report dated June 9, 1976 says it was pulled down the day before; the register gives 1978Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1976 Replaced by a new structureReplacement completed at Rockton, per the 1976 reportSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1976 and 2008
  6. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 16, 2008Source: firetower.org
  7. 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 Old Town lookout stood on a knob about a mile east of Clearfield, in Clearfield County.1,2 It went up in October 1928 as a steel tower, which the register describes as an Aermotor.1,2 Newspaper reports put it at 80 feet tall.2

In 1928 the Department of Forests and Waters announced that a large beacon light would be placed on the tower, which sat near an emergency landing field for the United States mail service.2 An August 1929 newspaper item says it was the first steel tower in the state fitted with an A-1 Way beacon.2 The forestry district had also weighed making the site a recreation area.2 By 1953 the department had built a fireplace at what was called Old Town Tower Park.2

A June 1976 newspaper account says the tower was manned only in the spring and fall, when fire danger was greatest.2 In its heyday, the account adds, a fire watcher could observe as many as 200,000 acres of forestland.2

The tower came down in June 1976.2 A June 9, 1976 newspaper report says it was brought down the previous day, once its anchor bolts had been undone.2 The register gives 1978 as the removal year.1 A replacement was finished at Rockton, and the 1976 report says it cost more than $35,000.2 The park around the tower faded with time, the report adds.2

The most recent survey description we found is a 1959 Coast and Geodetic Survey entry. It places the station on state property at the north edge of the tower's parking area. It also gives the structure about 130 feet overall, which does not match the 80 feet in the newspapers.2 No source we read describes what remains today or whether the public may go there.

  1. Old Town Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/pa/old-town-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Old Town, Forest Lookouts, Eastern US Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/old-town.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, county, 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, type, height, 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, 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.