Kings Mountain Lookout Site

The Kings Mountain lookout was built in 1936. It was a 50 foot pole tower with L-4 cab.
When Disney needed a tower to burn in a movie, Kings Mountain was offered due to its bad condition. The burning of the tower can be viewed in the film "A Fire Called Jeremiah" released in 1962 and then using some of the same footage in 1973 was the movie "Fire On Kelly Mountain". A local told me that Disney was required to replace the tower after the burn with a new one and his uncle helped drive the wood to the summit in his truck. He said this second tower also burned down. This second burn would likely be the 1965 date found by Kresek. The first tower had to burn prior to the 1962 movie.

From Usk, take Kings Lake Road over the Pend Oreille River to an intersection. The Kings Lake Road goes straight. Go to the South Skookum campground but instead of turning into the campground, continue on the road as it works its way up Kings Mountain to the summit.

August 28, 1943: “Among the women lookouts is Mrs. Earl Hupp of Newport, who is stationed at King's Mountain Lookout, Kaniksu national forest, Idaho.” (The Colville Examiner)

October 18, 1956: Indicated in a lookout inspection report: The 14 x 14 cab was in good condition except for a leak at the peak of the roof and in need of paint. A few of the catwalk planks are worn badly. The stairs were okay, the first and second landings showing rot. The tower: the right front leg of the 50-foot round timber has 5" heart rot, the left rear leg has 3" heart rot. The second and third bents show considerable rot.

January 22, 1957: An Estimate of Cost show a sum of $687.50 would be required to Splice right front leg, replace first and second landing timbers, repair roof and repaint exterior.

Big thanks to Rex Kamstra for grabbing these 3 screen shots from the 1973 film "Fire on Kelly Mountain". If the same burning tower footage was used from the 1962 Jeremiah movie, this would be different than the 1965 burning. To me, the lookouts look pretty similar but maybe the re-build was the exact tower.

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