Tweed Fire District (dates towers were erected)- Formed in 1922 (some of these towers were taken over by Lindsay District in 1946):
* 1922- Cashel (80 ft. light steel), Wicklow (80 ft. light steel), Mt. St. Patrick (80 ft. light steel), Myer's Cave (80 ft. light steel), Methuen (wooden) and Matawatchan (80 ft. light steel) Towers were erected.
* 1923- Raglan (80 ft. light steel) and Faraday (80 ft. light steel) Towers were erected.
* 1926- Grimsthorpe (wooden) Tower was erected.
* 1930- Ompah (80 ft. light steel) Tower was erected.
* 1931- Cardiff (80 ft. light steel) and Dungannon (80 ft. light steel tower relocated from Faraday) Towers were erected.
* 1938- Ashby (80 ft. light steel), Bancroft (100 ft. heavy steel-1st of its kind built in Ontario), White Mtn. (80 ft. heavy steel), Gull Lake (now known as Mississagua Lake- 80 ft light steel), Bruton (80 ft. heavy steel) and Tudor (80 ft. light steel tower relocated from Dungannon) Towers were erected.
* 1950- Grimsthorpe (80 ft. heavy steel) and Lyndoch (100 ft. heavy steel) Towers were erected.
* 1956- Limerick (80 ft. heavy steel), Olden (80 ft. heavy steel) and Kaladar (80 ft. heavy steel) Towers were erected.
* 1957- Bangor Tower (80 ft. heavy steel) was erected.
* 1958- Hungerford (100 ft heavy steel) and Bedford (100 ft. heavy steel) Towers were erected.
* 1959- Tudor (new 100 ft. heavy steel replaced 80 ft. light steel tower), Marmora (100 ft. heavy steel) and Hinchinbrooke (100 ft. heavy steel) Towers were erected.
Lindsay Fire District (dates towers were erected)- Formed in 1946:
* 1928- Methuen Tower, 80 ft. light steel, replaced a wooden tower 1st built here in 1922.
* 1938- Harvey (Gull Lake- now Mississagua Lake) Tower 80 ft. light steel, replaced wooden tower that was built here 1st in 1922. This tower was blown over by a hurricane and rebuilt in 1927.
* 1940- Glamorgan Tower (Green's Mountain), 80 ft. heavy steel.
* 1940- Bruton Tower, 80 ft. heavy steel.
* 1950- Harburn Tower, 80 ft. heavy steel.
* 1950- Sherbourne Tower, 100 ft. heavy steel, replaced 2 wooden towers 1st built here at the St. Nora Narrows in 1922 and across the highway in 1939.
* 1950- Lutterworth Tower, 80 ft. heavy steel, replaced wooden tower 1st built here in 1922.
* 1953- Eyre Tower, 100 ft. heavy steel.
* 1956- Dysart Tower, 100 ft. heavy steel.
* 1957- Digby Tower, 100 ft. heavy steel, replaced wood tower 1st built here in 1922.
* 1959- Cardiff Tower, 100 ft. heavy steel, replaced 80 ft. light steel tower 1st built here in 1931.
* 1960- Haldimand Tower (aka Northumberland), 80 ft. heavy steel.
* 1960- Clarke Tower (aka Ganaraska), 80 ft. heavy steel.
* Lindsay District (Special Note):
There were 2 wooden cabins built in the 1920's as fire lookouts that were part of the Gull Lake phone line tower system. They were situated on Dewdney Mountain and Parker's Mountain in the area just north-east of Bobcaygeon. Archie Henderson (the forest ranger)'s job was to man the towers part time and travel through the forest from Dewdney Mountain, to Parker's Mountain, to Green's Mountain Tower, to Gull Lake Tower (now Mississagua Lake) every so often to make sure the bush phone line was still intact. The 8 ft x 8 ft cabin lookout at Dewdney Mountain still exists. I discovered this info. in July 2007. To this day the bush phone line is still there, running in the exact same line, from one end to the other. It started at Henderson's old log cabin (also still there) on Bass Lake Rd just north of Nogies Creek.
Parry Sound Fire District- Formed in 1922:
As of 1969 there were 18 towers listed in the district. These were: Pickerel River CPR (a 60-80 ft. open steel tower with a bunkhouse beside it), Byng Inlet, Still River, Pointe au Baril, Ardbeg, Spence, Parry Sound, Go Home, Loring, Stormy Lake (Restoule), Nipissing, Boulter, Lount, Laurier, Strong, Proudfoot, Stisted and Draper. At that time (1969) there remained only 4 actively manned towers: Ardbeg, Go Home, Stormy Lake, and Boulter. These would also be fazed out shortly after in 1971. It was truly the end of an era.
Algonquin Park Towers of The Pembroke Fire District (all towers listed in the Park in 1922 when most towers were wooden):
Depot Lake, Trout Lake, Lake Travers, Wilson Lake, Grand Lake, Indian River, Martino Lake, Booth's Farm on Farm Lake, Lake Lavieille, Little Cauchon Lake, Big Crow Lake, Rock Lake, Cache Lake, Smoke Lake (2 towers), Island Lake, Southworth Lake, White Trout Lake, Osler Lake, Manitou Lake, Gibsons Lake and Tims Lake. Summit Tower (the tallest wooden fire tower built in Ontario) at Brule Lake must have been erected shortly after 1922. The supposed wooden tower at Lister Township, marked on the map above, also must have been erected post-1922.
Ontario Fire Tower Footings Measurements:
80 ft. light steel towers- footings measure 21'8" across.
80 ft. heavy steel towers- footings measure 18'5" across.
100 ft. heavy steel towers- footings measure 22'2" across.
Back to Ontario's Fire Tower Lookouts Page here.
