The Harlem Fire Watchtower, also known as the Mount Morris Fire Watchtower, is the only surviving one of eleven

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

watchtowers placed throughout

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

starting in the 1850s. Standing at tall, it was built by

Julius H. Kroehl Julius Hermann Kroehl (in German, ''Kröhl'') (1820 – September 9, 1867) was a German American inventor and engineer. He invented and built the first submarine able to dive and resurface on its own, the Sub Marine Explorer, technically adv ...

for $2,300 based on a design by

James Bogardus James Bogardus (March 14, 1800 – April 13, 1874) was an American inventor and architect, the pioneer of American cast-iron architecture, for which he took out a patent in 1850. Early life Bogardus was born in the town of Catskill in New York o ...

. It is located in

Marcus Garvey Park Marcus Garvey Park (formerly and also named Mount Morris Park) is a park on the border between the Harlem and East Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The park, centered on a massive and steep outcropping of schist, interrupts t ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The Mount Morris Park tower went into service in 1857 in response to Harlem residents’ demand. The towers gave volunteers a perch from which to watch for fires that were common in the wooden structures that then made up much of New York City, and the watchers then spread the word via bell ringing. Later, electric telegraphs were installed but the bell provided local alarms. When

pull box Manual fire alarm activation is typically achieved through the use of a pull station (USA & Canada) or call point (Europe, Australia, and Asia), which then sounds the evacuation alarm for the relevant building or zone. Manual fire alarm ...

es and other technological advances rendered the fire watchtowers obsolete, the system was discontinued and the other towers eventually were destroyed. Harlem's, protected in the middle of a park, endured. HarlemWatchtower

During the New Deal, the area surrounding the watchtower was rebuilt by government employees as part of the

Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

jobs program. This project created a gracious plaza (sometimes called "the Acropolis"), stone retaining wall, and wide steps approaching the summit from several sides for pedestrians. The tower was designated a city landmark in 1967 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The last work on the watchtower came in 1994, but cracks in the overall structure and in the bell remained. The granite parapet along the top was in need of restoration. Weather, lack of maintenance, and neglect took their toll over the years. Roof damage allowed water into the structure, rusting structural members. The original copper roof deteriorated and fell off, exposing the interior to more damage. Many of the internal steps were missing and park visitors may no longer climb them or get near the structure, which is protected by a fence. In 2013, the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association and the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance partnered with the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

to raise $4 million to restore the Harlem Watchtower, led by Valerie Jo Bradley. Starting in late 2014, NYC Parks disassembled the tower to restore the structure and ensure its soundness and stability before reconstruction. The tower reopened to visitors in December 2019.

References

External links

Official Site (New York City Department of Parks & Recreation)
*
Firewatchtower.com - An online resource for the conservation of Mount Morris Fire Watchtower in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, New York, NY
{{New York City Historic Sites Fire lookout towers on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Government buildings completed in 1857 Historic American Engineering Record in New York City New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Towers completed in 1857 Harlem 1857 establishments in New York (state)