Skidder Hill LO Failed Move

Lookout Site Region:  Origin Site WA Coast

 Here is an interesting tale of a Type 4 failed re-location.  The Skidder Hill Lookout was accidentally destroyed while the private buyer was attempting to move it.

The Skidder Hill Lookout entry in Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page (firelookout.com) reads: ”Built in 1957 and gone by 1971, this 40′ wooden DNR live-in tower was sold to a private party and many of the tower parts recycled.”

“Rex,
I stumbled across your web site, and thought I’d contribute.
I grew up south of Port Townsend, WA, at the base of Skidder Hill.  Our family often drove up to the lookout to enjoy the view.  This fire lookout tower stood about 40 feet high, painted an official battleship grey.
About 1966 the Forest Service decided to use airplanes for spotting fires, and they wanted the lookout tower torn down. My father bid US$4, which turned out to be the only, and therefore highest bid.
We lowered the furniture over the edge of the railing with a rope. Then the map table, the shutters, and the window glass. My Dad wanted to salvage the top of the lookout intact, so he figured a way to tip the whole tower over using the tractor winch, bracing it with a pole to achieve a controlled fall. Well, it worked fine – until about half way down. Then the pole slipped, and it crashed. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
We used every part of that lookout tower but the squeal. The stairs became basement access for the church remodel. The bracing beams became the roof supports for a rental cabin. Most of it we used in a new garage – the ridge beam, the windows, the shutters.
Thanks for preserving a part of our history.” (The email was signed

I have listed this as a failed re-location since there was no longer a lookout structure to view.  But it was not a complete failure as the lookout material was still being used for so many purposes.

Skidder Hill Lookout at its Origin Site

Peggy and I visited the abandoned Skidder Hill Lookout site on 2/10/2018.