REGIONS: ORIGIN SITE ~ Northwest WA, RE-LO SITE ~ WA Coast
This moving of the third, and last, Deming Lookout from Northwest Washington to the Forks Timber Museum is a good example of a Type 1 re-location. The entry for the Deming Lookout in Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page (www.firelookout .com) states: “First used with an 80′ pole tower in 1929, a 75′ steel tower replaced it in 1947. Then a 40′ wooden DNR tower was constructed in 1965, and was removed in 1985. The cab is now on display at the Forks Museum.” Other sources list the date of the move to Forks as 1990.
The story of the Forks Timber Museum is more complicated than that. When a museum honoring the town of Forks’ logging heritage was being planned in the mid-1980s, it was decided that the museum should incorporate a forest fire lookout. Several nearby lookouts that were no longer being used were considered. According to several sources, a 40’ DNR live-in tower on Octopus Mountain was first chosen, but it was accidentally destroyed by fire while being prepared for the move. Then a second candidate was chosen to become the museum lookout. The lookout on Sekiu Mountain which was similar in design to the destroyed Mount Octopus lookout was then selected as the second choice. According to the stories, it was also accidentally burned up while being prepared for its move to Forks. (It seems like a tall tale to have both the nearby candidates being similarly “accidentally” destroyed by fire.)
A June, 2015 article in the Forks Forum included: “The Deming lookout apparently was in about the same shape as the Sekiu lookout, was the same design as Sekiu’s and was also to be taken down, so the Timber Museum was able to procure it as a replacement. It came to Forks in sections on a lowboy and after the tower was built at the museum it was put together in sections…….although the tower was the Deming tower, the interior furnishings and equipment in the tower are from the Sekiu lookout.”
Most sources agree that the Deming Lookout, the apparent third choice, is the lookout that can be visited at the Forks Timber Museum. This required a long move of over 120 miles rather than the short 20 mile haul that would have been required from either Octopus Mtn or Sekiu Mtn.
AUGUST 10, 2021 UPDATE: There are some that still believe that the Forks Museum Lookout is from Sekiu Mtn. I have been recently reading old copies of the FFLA newsletter, LOOKOUT NETWORK and found another apparent vote for Sekiu in an article in the newsletter.
The Lookout at the Forks Timber Museum ~ Autumn, 2005 edition of LOOKOUT NETWORK~ by Arch Wirth, Kingston, WA
“Forks is a town on the west side of the Olympic peninsula, in the State of Washington. It is in the heart of timber country, with a long and colorful history of logging. Displays, pictures, and equipment give the museum visitor an excellent understanding of the logging industry. The beautiful log building that houses the museum was begun in September of 1989 (by the High School carpentry class, with support from the community) and finished in June of 1990. In 1991 the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources dismantled a lookout (on a 40′ tower) that had been in service near Sekiu. All of the basic lookout equipment was saved. With a lot of effort, and a couple of years’ time, volunteers were able to reconstruct the lookout (on a shorter tower) at the Timber Museum. You access the catwalk from the second floor of the museum, which also has an interesting display of early firefighting equipment. Don’t pass through Forks without stopping at the Timber Museum – there is a lot to learn there, as well as viewing the Lookout that was.” Arch Wirth, Kingston, WA.
While it it still appears that the Forks Museum Lookout came from Deming, Arch’s article helps keep the controversy alive.
MARCH 17, 2022 UPDATE: We visited the Forks Museum on March 17, 2022 and had an interesting meeting with Byron Monohan, the Director of the Forks Timber Museum. He agreed that their lookout cab came from Deming while much of the equipment and furniture in the lookout had come from the Sekiu Lookout.
Deming LO’s Cab Move from near Deming to Forks
Our visit to the Forks Timber Museum, the RE-LO SITE for the Deming LO
We visited the Forks Timber Museum on October 22, 2020. The lookout cab and the catwalk around it is accessed through the museum. Since the museum was closed at that time due to the Covid 19 Pandemic, we were could not get into the lookout cab or catwalk. We walked around the museum grounds and took photos of the re-located Deming Lookout from the ground.
MARCH 17, 2022 UPDATE: On March 17,2022, we visited the Forks Timber Museum again. It was open and we could visit the lookout. The lookout cab was locked, but we were able to visit the catwalk and take pictures of the interior of the cab and its equipment through the windows.
The bed and stove, both important for the well-being of the serving lookout, could be seen in the photos above. Both had been used in the Sekiu Lookout.
Our visit to the Deming LO Site, the ORIGIN SITE .
We had visited the Deming Lookout Site, ORIGIN SITE for the Forks Timber Museum Lookout, on June 4, 2020. There were only a few lookout artifacts left at the site. Low lying clouds limited the views.
