FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · McKean County, Pennsylvania

Prospect Hill Tower Site

Prospect Hill fire tower, McKean County PA: built 1925, replaced 1967; top section moved to a Smethport museum yard, so not gone.

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Set for demolition in 2016. Only the top section was saved; it is on display at the Old Jail Museum in Smethport.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. The salvaged top is on display at the Old Jail Museum in Smethport, which the McKean County Historical Society manages. No source describes access to the original hilltop.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor steel towerThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1925
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
2,435 ft (742 m)
Agency
Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters
Land
Unknown
Location
McKean County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
41.81284, −78.38113
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-prospect-hill

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 4.1 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. 1925 BuiltSteel state tower completed in October 1925, 60 feet tall per the 1925 notice. The register dates the steel Aermotor tower to 1925.Sources: firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1927 First staffedFirst report of a watcher stationed in the tower. A 1925 notice had said an observer would be on duty in fire seasons.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1928 FireWatcher reported the first forest fire of the season in the Open Brook region; Smethport crews were rushed to it.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1928 and 1952
  5. 1952 FireObserver Frank Oviatt called in an April 1952 fire that threatened to burn up toward the summit; a large crew fought it.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1952 and 1967
  7. 1967 Replaced by a new structureA 1967 notice said the taller steel tower would be 82 feet 6 inches high and was under construction in the same location. The register says the tower was replaced in 1967.Sources: firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1967 and 2008
  9. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 16, 2008, nominated by Henry Isenberg.Source: firetower.org
  10. 2016 EventTower set for demolition; efforts to keep it in place were unsuccessful, and the county allowed the top portion to be preserved.Source: lumberheritage.org
  11. 2022 MovedTop section moved to the yard of the Old Jail Museum in Smethport. Sources say six or seven years to relocate it.Sources: oleantimesherald.com, lumberheritage.org
  12. 2024 EventRestoration of the top section into an exhibit under way; two of four phases complete as of May 2024.Source: explorejeffersonpa.com
  13. 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 (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Prospect Hill, above Smethport in McKean County, got a state fire lookout in 1925.1,2 The register describes a steel Aermotor tower built that year.1 A local paper reported that deputy forest fire warden Fred Petruzzi had finished erecting it, and that it stood 60 feet tall.2

Its job was to watch for smoke.2 A 1925 notice said an observer would be on duty in fire season, and by 1927 a watcher was posted at the top.2 In April 1928 that watcher reported the first fire of the season in the Open Brook area, and a crew from Smethport was sent to fight it.2 In April 1952 the observer, Frank Oviatt, raised the alarm over a fire that threatened to climb the hill.2 From the tower he had a view straight down onto the blaze as it climbed toward him.2

The tower was replaced in 1967 by a taller steel one on the same spot.1,2 A 1967 notice said the new tower would stand 82 feet 6 inches high, with an 8-foot crow's nest on top.2

In 2016 the tower was set for demolition.3 Efforts to keep it in place failed, but the county allowed the top section to be saved.3 That top was moved to the yard of the Old Jail Museum in Smethport.4 Sources differ on how long the move took. A 2022 newspaper says seven years of planning, fundraising and regulatory hurdles, while the project page says it took six years to relocate it.4,3

Today a portion of the tower is on display at the McKean County Historical Society, whose Old Jail Museum sits behind the county courthouse.5,6 In May 2024 two of four restoration phases were finished.6 The planned exhibit is meant to be handicap accessible, and the work still needed funding, materials and volunteers.3

Sources do not describe what, if anything, remains on the hilltop today.

  1. Prospect Hill Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/pa/prospect-hill-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Prospect Hill, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/prospect-hill.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Prospect Hill Fire Tower Project - Phase I, The Lumber Heritage Region, https://lumberheritage.org/grants-projects/mini-grants/prospect-hill-fire-tower-project-phase-i/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Fire tower in McKean County relocated, ready for rejuvenation, Olean Times Herald, https://www.oleantimesherald.com/2022/12/20/fire-tower-in-mckean-county-relocated-ready-for-rejuvenation/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Fire tower preserved for visitors in McKean County, thanks to Lumber Heritage Region, Pennsylvania Wilds, https://pawilds.com/fire-tower-mckean-county-lhr/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  6. A Lumber Heritage Mini Grant Helps McKean County Historical Society Preserve a Fire Tower for Visitors, exploreJefferson, https://www.explorejeffersonpa.com/local/2024/05/11/update-a-lumber-heritage-mini-grant-helps-mckean-county-historical-society-preserve-a-fire-tower-for-visitors-145988/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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: 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, access, 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.