Mount Nimham

Mount Nimham
Mount Nimham is located in New York
Mount Nimham
Mount Nimham
Location of Mount Nimham within New York
Mount Nimham is located in the United States
Mount Nimham
Mount Nimham
Mount Nimham (the United States)
Highest point
Elevation1,273 feet (388 m)[1]
Coordinates41°27′40″N 73°43′30″W / 41.4612045°N 73.7251311°W / 41.4612045; -73.7251311[1]
Geography
LocationNW of Carmel, Putnam County, New York, U.S.
Topo mapUSGS Lake Carmel

Mount Nimham is a 1,273-foot-tall (388 m) mountain in Hudson Highlands of New York. It is located northwest of Carmel in Putnam County. Nimham Mountain is named after Chief Daniel Nimham of the Wappinger tribe. In 1940, an 82-foot-6-inch-tall (25.15 m) steel fire lookout tower was built on the mountain. The tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1988 fire lookout season and was officially closed the next year. The tower appears on the National Historic Lookout Register and is still open to the public.

Ninham mountain fire tower in January 2022 with bare tree and brown grasses/bushes and woman looking up at it
The fire tower in January 2022

History[edit]

Nimham Mountain was named after Chief Daniel Nimham of the Wappinger tribe. The name was recently changed from "Ninham" to "Nimham" to correct a long-standing spelling error. In 1940, the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp P-135 of Peekskill constructed an 82-foot-6-inch-tall (25.15 m) International Derrick steel fire lookout tower on the mountain. The tower was first staffed for fire lookout purposes in 1941, reporting 73 fires and 266 visitors. Due to the increased use of aerial fire detection, the tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1988 fire lookout season. The tower was officially closed in early 1989 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In the mid-1990s, the town of Kent organized volunteers to restore the tower. The restoration work was completed in Spring 2005, with an official dedication ceremony on July 24, 2005. The tower appears on the National Historic Lookout Register; it is one of only a few towers in New York that still has the manufacturers identification tag, which reads: "THE INTERNATIONAL DERRICK & EQUIPMENT Company (IDECO) Columbus, Ohio - Los Angeles."[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Mount Nimham". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  2. ^ "Searchable list of NY Fire Towers". nysffla.org. The New York State Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association. Retrieved December 11, 2021.