Adirondack Fire Towers: Their History and Lore, The Northern Districts
By Martin Podskoch

New York State lost tens of thousands of acres of woodland to fires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With no vegetation to hold rain-soaked soil on devastated slopes, great floods resulted. In response, the state began to erect fire towers in 1916, and they became destinations for generations of hikers fascinated by the views the towers afforded and by the stories told by observers. Made obsolete by aerial surveillance and modern communication, today some abandoned towers have been or are being restored for the benefit of hikers.

Product Details
Paperback: 349 pages
Publisher: Purple Mountain Press, Ltd.
ISBN-13: 978-1930098671
Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
Price: $20.00

Marty Podskoch's second volume about Adirondack fire towers completes a huge undertaking-to document and bring to life the fascinating history and lore of the region's fire observation stations through the words and photographs of the people who made these important places work. The fire towers themselves, tall, remote mountain sentinels, have come to have great public appeal, but it is the stories of the people associated with these towers that really give them meaning and richness.

- STEVEN ENGELHART, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ADIRONDACK ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE