Tahoe National Forest: Calpine Lookout – Sierraville CA

City:
Sierraville, Tahoe National Forest, CA

Site Type:
Forestry and Agriculture, Fire Lookouts

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Started:
1934

Quality of Information:
Good

Marked:
Yes

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Calpine lookout tower in 1934.

The forest fire lookout tower was in service until 1975. The three-story structure has exterior stairs, a ground floor storage room, a second floor sleeping room, and the observation cab on the top floor. The structure is one of the many CCC-built lookout towers that have been used for decades to spot wildfires fires in California’s forests.

According to the Forest Service: “Calpine lookout is an “L-7” or windmill style enclosed tower with a “BC-3” cab and has been determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The windmill style of lookout was very popular throughout California, used by the Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and some counties. Calpine lookout is one of 3 windmill style lookouts that remain in the state.
Calpine sits at an elevation of 5,980 feet, approximately 40 miles from Truckee, CA.”

Source notes

USDA Forest ServiceL (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tahoe/recarea/?recid=80158), accessed June 2019.

Site originally submitted by Hank Chapot on June 7, 2019.

Location Info


317 South Lincoln St
Sierraville, CA 96126
CA County

Location notes: Mountains above Calpine, an old company logging town Sierraville Ranger Station

Coordinates: 39.58383980000001, -120.36969469999997

Contribute to this Site

We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.

Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

Your email address will not be published, shared, or sold.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contribute to this Site

We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal project site.

Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

Your email address will not be published, shared, or sold.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.