Prospect Peak Fire Lookout Explained

Prospect Peak Fire Lookout
Nearest City:Mineral, California
Coordinates:40.5733°N -121.345°W
Built:c. 1912
Added:March 30, 1978
Area:less than one acre
Refnum:78000295

The Prospect Peak Fire Lookout is a fire lookout station located on Prospect Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park, near the city of Mineral, California. The lookout, which was built circa 1912, is one of the oldest extant U.S. Forest Service fire lookouts in the United States. The wood-frame building is square with a pyramidal roof; its walls are mostly composed of tall windows, with shiplap siding below the windows and on the roof. This design was a standard design used by U.S. Forest Service fire lookouts at the time, and several of the other contemporary lookouts in the national park also used this style of construction. The lookout is likely now the only surviving station with this design. Though the station was ultimately abandoned and has lost its original windows and roof shingles, it is otherwise intact.[1]

The lookout was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1978.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chappell. Gordon. [{{NRHP url|id=78000295}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Prospect Peak Fire Lookout]. National Park Service. May 16, 2013. June 16, 1977.