July 30, 1963
Tuesday, partly cloudy, much cooler, 62 high. wrote to Marilyn and ironed most of the day. Cleaned up the house. Mr. Smith from N.Y.S. Conservation Department came tonight for us to sign papers for the mountain. David and Wayne got a plastic pump at Middleburgh and tried to get water pumped direct from spring to well. Lorraine called and said she and Ina Belle wouldn’t be coming out.
Comment: So the top of the mountain with the tower is sold to the state. I think it was taken by eminent domain so they probably did not have a lot of choice. The well on the front lawn quite often ran dry and we would pipe water from "The Spring Lot" with hoses. This looks like an attempt to set up something more permanent. Here is some other information about the tower and below it a link to the songpoem The Spring Lot performed by my son David.
Here is a link to "The Spring Lot" where we used to play when children:
.....The following is excerpted from “Fire Towers Of The Catskills, Their History And Lore”, Martin Podskoeh, Purple Mountain Press, 2000.
In 1947, the state took down the 80-foot tower that stood on Gilbert Lake State Park and rebuilt it on Hubbard Hill. The mountain is named after the Hubbard family who have owned land and farmed there since the 1800’s.
However, the state misnamed it Leonard Hill Fire Tower, after a lower hill owned by Dr. Duncan Leonard next to Hubbard Hill.
“It wasn't supposed to be Leonard Hill,” says Frances Hubbard. “Somebody got the maps mixed up. It always bothered me.”
Fred VanAken was the first observer at the tower. He started working April 8, 1949. He and the other rangers parked at the Hubbard farm and followed a rugged trail along the telephone lines to the tower.
“About 15 years after the tower was built, the state purchased 75 acres from my parents,” said Doug Hubbard, son of Clifton and Frances Hubbard. “The state built another road to the tower on the north side of the mountain, and we hardly saw the observers after that.”
One day during the 80’s, observer Judy Merwin gazed out the tower window at the beautiful valleys and woods of Schoharie. A young couple standing next to her had hiked to the tower and were learning about the area. Judy pointed out the Majestic Catskill Mountains to the south and the fertile Schoharie Valley to the north.
In the distant they could see a single-engine plane approaching the tower. As the plane got closer, they saw that it was pulling something. The young man said to his girlfriend, “Look! It has a sign.”
The words were now visible: “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” The young woman’s eyes filled with tears. She embraced the young man with a heartfelt, “Yes.”
In 1947, the state took down the 80-foot tower that stood on Gilbert Lake State Park and rebuilt it on Hubbard Hill. The mountain is named after the Hubbard family who have owned land and farmed there since the 1800’s.
However, the state misnamed it Leonard Hill Fire Tower, after a lower hill owned by Dr. Duncan Leonard next to Hubbard Hill.
“It wasn't supposed to be Leonard Hill,” says Frances Hubbard. “Somebody got the maps mixed up. It always bothered me.”
Fred VanAken was the first observer at the tower. He started working April 8, 1949. He and the other rangers parked at the Hubbard farm and followed a rugged trail along the telephone lines to the tower.
“About 15 years after the tower was built, the state purchased 75 acres from my parents,” said Doug Hubbard, son of Clifton and Frances Hubbard. “The state built another road to the tower on the north side of the mountain, and we hardly saw the observers after that.”
One day during the 80’s, observer Judy Merwin gazed out the tower window at the beautiful valleys and woods of Schoharie. A young couple standing next to her had hiked to the tower and were learning about the area. Judy pointed out the Majestic Catskill Mountains to the south and the fertile Schoharie Valley to the north.
In the distant they could see a single-engine plane approaching the tower. As the plane got closer, they saw that it was pulling something. The young man said to his girlfriend, “Look! It has a sign.”
The words were now visible: “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” The young woman’s eyes filled with tears. She embraced the young man with a heartfelt, “Yes.”
Here is a link to "The Spring Lot" where we used to play when children:
No comments:
Post a Comment