Berlin Mountain is a prominent peak in the Taconic Mountains of western

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and is located adjacent to Massachusetts's border with

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. It is the highest point in Rensselaer County. The summit and west side of the mountain are located in New York; the east side lies within Williamstown,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. The mountain is a bald, notable for its grassy summit and expansive views of the Hudson River Valley to the west. The Taconic Crest Trail traverses the mountain. Several other hiking trails approach the summit from the east. Much of the upper slopes and summit are within protected conservation land. Historically the lower slopes of the mountain were farmed heavily throughout the 19th Century. In addition to agriculture, there are several remnants of

charcoal kiln A charcoal pile or charcoal clamp is a carefully arranged pile of wood, covered by turf or other layer, inside which a fire is lit in order to produce charcoal. The pile is tended by a charcoal burner. It is similar to a charcoal kiln, but the lat ...

s located on the mountain that produced fuel for iron smelting.

History

Around 1915, the Commonwealth of

built a steel fire lookout tower on the mountain. The tower was one of two that were built to replace the tower on Mount Greylock, which had poor visibility. In 1921, New York State expanded its forest fire detection and control responsibilities to the area east of the Hudson River, due to advice from the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

. The area included parts of Washington County and all of Rensselaer, Columbia and Dutchess counties, under District Forest Ranger Henry A. Teal. The states of Vermont, New York and Massachusetts shared in the funding of the operation of the tower for about three years. Along this boundary, Massachusetts authorities would use the observation towers on Berlin Mountain, Osceola Mountain and Mount Everett to report fires to the nearest fire warden in New York. Similar agreements were made with the states of Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania with regard to different new districts that were established by New York. In 1922, the state of New York added forest fire observation stations at Number Seven Hill and Dickinson Hill, which are also both in Rensselaer County. Due to these additions, in late 1923, Massachusetts moved the tower to Brodie Mountain. The towers footings are all that remains from the tower on Berlin Mountain.

References

External links

Berkshire Natural Resource Council

Rensselaer Land Trust

Taconic Hiking ClubWilliamstown Rural Lands Foundation
{{Fire lookout towers in New York Mountains of Rensselaer County, New York Taconic Mountains Mountains of Berkshire County, Massachusetts Mountains of New York (state)