The towers were equipped with alidades, a sighting apparatus that utilized hand-drawn maps of the geographic features of the area to help the watchers pinpoint the location of fires or smoke they spotted.
Early watchmen also had low-powered binoculars -- and a 360-degree view.
It was the watchmen's knowledge of the area, however, that was the greatest boon to determining the location of fires.
At left is the Black Cat Mountain tower in Piscataquis County. The 60-foot steel tower was built in 1919 at an elevation of 2,599 feet.
The lookout station moved to Trout Mountain in 1931.
