PEAVINE MOUNTAIN
.
April 26, 1942: "With the occupancy of Truckee Meadows Camp G-180 of the U.S. Grazing Service by Superintendent R.F. Jameson and the camp personnel, active work is under way on a project to build a standard type of fire lookout station on the summit of Peavine.
The project is one of collaboration between the Mono national forest and Region 3 of the grazing service. The forest service is to supply a standard size 14'x14' lookout building, equipped with sleeping quarters and facilities. This will enable the guard, or guards, on duty on the summit of Peavine to render 24-hour service during the fire season, which commences in June and ends the middle of October.
The grazing service is supplying the manpower and supervision, as well as preparing engineering plans.
In order to establish the station a road must be constructed five miles in length, from U.S. Highway 395, which takes off six miles out of Reno. The road is necessary to transport material and construction crews to the summit of the mountain.
From the proposed lookout tower, vital and strategic points in the Plumas, Tahoe and Mono national forests may be watched, as well as many square miles of grazing land on the public domain east, north and south of Reno. It is in this area that some of the most disastrous forest and range fires have occurred in recent years." (Nevada State Journal)
The project is one of collaboration between the Mono national forest and Region 3 of the grazing service. The forest service is to supply a standard size 14'x14' lookout building, equipped with sleeping quarters and facilities. This will enable the guard, or guards, on duty on the summit of Peavine to render 24-hour service during the fire season, which commences in June and ends the middle of October.
The grazing service is supplying the manpower and supervision, as well as preparing engineering plans.
In order to establish the station a road must be constructed five miles in length, from U.S. Highway 395, which takes off six miles out of Reno. The road is necessary to transport material and construction crews to the summit of the mountain.
From the proposed lookout tower, vital and strategic points in the Plumas, Tahoe and Mono national forests may be watched, as well as many square miles of grazing land on the public domain east, north and south of Reno. It is in this area that some of the most disastrous forest and range fires have occurred in recent years." (Nevada State Journal)
June 20, 1942: "A building owned by the forest service, and not in use, has been dismantled, and moved from the Susanville section for a fire lookout station at the summit of Peavine, north of Reno. The building is being put up by the grazing service, which also has just completed construction of a truck trail to the station. The project, which is cooperative, will provide lookout protection for a wide area of forest and range country not formerly covered." (Nevada State Journal)
July 21, 1942: "The fire lookout station atop Peavine mountain, northwest of Reno, was placed in operation today through the joint efforts of the Mono national forest service and the division of grazing. The station will afford continuous fire spotting service throughout the summer season, with J.P. Ryan of the Mono forest service being assigned to the post.
Equipped with two-way radio communication, the lookout station will be in constant touch with both the division of grazing office and the Mono forest headquarters in Reno. The range of observation will include Mono forest area as far south as Alpine county, sections of the Tahoe national forest as far west as Donner summit, a large portion of the Plumas national forest as far north as Lassen county, and the area to the east, beyond Pyramid lake.
The lookout station, together with the truck trail extending from the Purdy highway to the summit of Peavine mountain, has been constructed under the supervision of the grazing service during the past three months. Much of the equipment installed in the station has been brought in from a similar station in Lassen park which is no longer in use. The station house proper and the lookout tower were built by grazing service crews." (Reno Evening Gazette)
May 8, 1961: "Mrs. Jean Ferguson, a middle-aged woman from Carson City, runs the Peavine Station. She spends most of her waking hours scanning the horizons to spot fires." (Reno Evening Gazette)
July 3, 1970: "The forest fire lookout is gradually being phased out in Western Nevada, not by the pressure of economics but by necessity due to smog.
Smog has increased in surrounding valleys to the point that it has forced the closure of Peavine lookout, located on Peavine Mountain, just north of Reno." (Nevada State Journal)
Removed
STATION RECOVERY (1942)
RECOVERY NOTE BY NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS 1942
THE ORIGINAL STATION, MARKED BY A CROSS IN THE HEAD OF A
COPPER BOLT, WAS DESTROYED BY THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE AND
DIVISION OF GRAZING DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A FIRE LOOKOUT
TOWER ON PEAVINE PEAK. A REFERENCE MARK WAS ESTABLISHED BY
R.F. GUINN, NEVADA STATE HIGHWAY DEPT., AS FOLLOWS--A 3-INCH
BRONZE DISK, MARKED FOR THE U.S. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, PUBLIC
SURVEY OFFICE WAS CEMENTED IN CONCRETE, NEARLY FLUSH WITH THE
GROUND AND MARKED WITH A CROSS (X) AT THE TRUE POINT. NO
OTHER MARKS OR NAMES WERE PLACED ON THE DISK. THIS DISK IS
DISTANT 35.880 FEET FROM THE ORIGINAL PEAVINE STATION AND IN
AZIMUTH 297 DEG 41 DEG 35.83 SEC AS MEASURED FROM THE LINE
PEAVINE -- RENO CONG. CHURCH SPIRE. ALL ANGLES TURNED 6
D/R WITH LIETZ 20-INCH TRANSIT AND CHAINING WAS DONE WITH
NEW 100-FOOT STEEL TAPE AT STANDARD TENSION.
TO REACH FROM RENO DRIVE N ON U.S. HIGHWAY 395 TO LEMMON
VALLEY. CROSS R.R. SPUR TO AIR BASE AND GO ABOUT 1/2 MILE
TO TOP OF HILL. TURN LEFT ON DIRT ROAD AND FOLLOW TO LOOKOUT
STATION ON SUMMIT OF PEAVINE PEAK.
THE STATION IS ABOUT 20 FEET E OF THE SE CORNER OF THE LOOKOUT.
(THE BUILDING WAS NOT COMPLETED AT TIME OF ESTABLISHMENT OF
THE REFERENCE MARK, BUT THE APPROXIMATE SITE WAS USED.)