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Photograph of Pillsbury Mountain Forest Fire Observation Station
Photograph by Catskill549, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Pillsbury Mountain Forest Fire Observation Station

Built in 1924. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1899.

From the record

“The Pillsbury Mountain Forest Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Pillsbury Mountain summit at Arietta in Hamilton County, New York. The tower was built in 1924 by the Aermotor Windmill Company and the associated observer's cabin and shed in 1950.”

Wikipedia article Pillsbury Mountain Forest Fire Observation Station, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 24 National Register listings published here for Hamilton County · listed in 2010 · category: Structure · built in 1924.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 3 structuress, 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Pillsbury Mountain, Arietta, 12164
  • When was it listed? September 2010
  • Category. structure
  • Also known as. Fire Observation Stations of New York State Forest Preserve MPS
  • Town. Lake Pleasant town
  • When was it built? 1924
  • National Register reference number. 10000728 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

47 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 47 fires within 5 miles of Pillsbury Mountain Forest Fire Observation Station between 1992 and 2020, burning about 66 acres in total. 5 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Recreation and ceremony26
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Natural5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Debris and open burning2
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2002Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNew York Forest RangersMASON LAKE 3
25 September 1995Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresNew York Forest Rangersnot named
23 September 2007Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNew York Forest RangersLEWEY LAKE
21 September 2003Smoking1.0 acresNew York Forest Rangersnot named
20 September 2013Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNew York Forest RangersPERKINS CLEARING FIRE
2 September 1996Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresNew York Forest Rangersnot named
2 September 1993Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresNew York Forest Rangersnot named
6 August 2002Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNew York Forest RangersMASON LAKE SHORE

Every fire recorded in Hamilton County

Storms near this property

6 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Arietta, the town this property stands in, in 6 storm reports between 2004 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2025Thunderstorm WindArietta-A tree was reported down near Route 10 north of Arietta.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindArietta-Downed trees were reported near Arietta.
November 2019FloodArietta-Route 10 was closed between Route 8 and the Fulton County line due to flooding.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindArietta-Two trees, and several power lines were reported down near Arietta due to strong thunderstorm winds. The downed wires reportedly started a fire.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindArietta-Powerlines were blown down in Arietta.
May 2004Flash FloodArietta-Law Enforcement reported Rt 10 closed by NYSDOT approximately two weeks due to roadside culvert and road flooding.

Every storm recorded in Hamilton County

Maps showing this location

11 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 10000728 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Hamilton CountyAll 24 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.