National Register of Historic Places

Salmon Mountain Lookout

Darby (MT), Idaho County, Idaho
Listed
April 6, 2018
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
100002296

About this property

The Salmon Mountain Lookout, on Salmon Mountain in the West Fork District of Bitterroot National Forest, near Darby, Idaho, was built in 1949. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. It is a volunteer-staffed lookout located in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, and it also overlooks the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness to the north. Salmon Mountain is located in the Idaho portion of the West Fork in the Frank Church River Of No Return Wilderness. It has the distinction of being the oldest documented site used as a lookout on the Bitterroot Forest. An old journal from 1915 describes Salmon being used as an observation point and a phone line being run up the mountain that summer. A tent camp was placed on the upper part of the mountain and at the highest point, a square rock wall was built that surrounded a portable alidade on a stump. The first tower, a log cabin with an observation cupola, was built on Salmon Mountain in 1928. It was replaced, in 1949, with the current L-4 lookout on a 5 foot rock base that is still in use. There is a 1.2 mile trail leading to the lookout from the Magruder Corridor/ Elk City Road.

Location

Darby (MT), Idaho County, Idaho
45.61693, -114.83677

Categories

ARCHITECTURECONSERVATIONENGINEERINGPOLITICS/GOVERNMENT
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Deep Creek Ranger Station
Industrial
8.4 mi
Foster, Blacky, House
Industrial
11.3 mi
Arctic Point Fire Lookout
Industrial
13.9 mi
Butts Point Creek Fire Lookout
Industrial
18.3 mi
Meinert Ranch Cabin
Industrial
21.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Salmon Mountain Lookout listed on the National Register?

Salmon Mountain Lookout was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 6, 2018.

What type of historic resource is Salmon Mountain Lookout?

Salmon Mountain Lookout is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Salmon Mountain Lookout?

The period of significance for Salmon Mountain Lookout is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Salmon Mountain Lookout?

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