Green Mountain Fire Lookout

      Green Mountain Fire Lookout is located at an elevation of 1,374 feet and was constructed in early 1942 on one acre of land. It is located on Mariposa County Parcel Number: Southeast 1/4 of Northwest 1/4 of Section 3, Township 8 South, Range 18 East, Raymond, California. The lookout is West of Ben Hur Road and North of Preston Road. It is located on private property and there is no public access to the site any longer.

      Very little is known about the Green Mountain Lookout, it's principal use was for wildland fire detection. During the Second World War it was also used for an aircraft observation post, as were many of the lookouts located in this area were. There seems to be some historical value to the lookout shown below, in the March, 1990 B/W photos.

      In 1983 a person who was doing research on fire lookouts in California stated Green Mountain Lookout is one of the few lookouts built in that era, that are still in its original configuration. The lookout was built in 1942 by CDF carpenter, Frank Greeley, out of Mariposa. According to the first lookout (Clinton Preston) assigned to Green Mountain, during 1942 and 1943, it was also used as an aircraft spotting station in conjunction with the Second World War.

      The lookout is of wood frame construction. It sits on a concrete foundation which was poured on a large rock pile. The cap, or lookout section, is square and has three large windows on each side. Shutters shade the windows from the sun on all four sides of the lookout section. The living quarters is rectangular shaped with tilt-in-sash type windows, and plain wooden shingles as siding. Both cap roof and low gable roof are covered with wood shingles. In 1969, exterior stairs were added for personnel safty, and the interior steps deteriorated and were removed on 1979.

      The lookouts use ended in on an unknown date and the tower was turned back over to the property owner. In the mid-2004 a communications company inquired about placing a cell phone tower on the site. This was the last of any information on the site since then.