LT Mile 37.7 — Division 3 — Elev.3839 ft
A new cabin built here about 1928. [E. P Dickinson note in GB 7th Edition 1928]
GB 9th Edition 1932 does not mention that hikers are welcome overnight. The Stratton Mountain Tower was sold to the Vermont Timber Landowner’s Association and was replaced in 1934 by a new structure and the old tower was torn down in 1936 after sharing the peak with the new structure for 2 years A new fire spotter’s cabin was built on the mountain in 1928 by the Association.
This cabin was built approximately 100 feet from the tower. The Association arranged for Leon Stocker of Wardsboro to construct this building for $150. In a letter dated June 19, 1928, Robert M Ross, Vt. Commissioner of Forestry approved construction of the camp “of thoroughly died. matched pine boards with 2 windows, complete with sash, and a door with the necessary hardware. The roof should be so- constructed as to withstand a large amount of snow and properly braced to take care of this feature. The roofing material should at least be good three-ply roofing paper and a provision should be made for a stove pipe, six-inch hole, with the necessary galvanized iron protection around hole. The floor should be double boarded. The cabin was constructed that summer and was used by many fire watches over the years to come. It was refurbished in 1951/2, being modernized on the interior with a new sink and more cupboards and shelves. A new woodshed and toilet were also built at that time. During 1953/4, the telephone system was improved and a two-wire system and a dialing service. was put into use. In 1955/6, the cabin roof was covered with sheet aluminum. And so. with only a few changes from its original construction in 1928, the little fire spotter’s cabin still stands today, outlasting another log cabin that had been constructed in 1970. [History of Stratton, Vt. by D.K. Young]
After reading “The History of Stratton, Vt”, there is a question in my mind as to which structure was standing in 1983 when Joanne and I were mountaintop caretakers. Was it structure #2 or #3? Which structure was intentionally burned in 1995? Surely all these cabins were occasionally used by hikers and or caretakers at time over the years of their existence. [Paul Woodward]
