Telescope Hill, at , is the highest point of elevation in the

Town of Brookhaven Brookhaven is a large suburban town in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. With a population of 488,497 as of 2022, it is the second most populous town in New York (after Hempstead, in the adjacent Nassau County) and the third most popu ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The hill is located at the end of Tower Hill Ave., on the border of the ZIP codes of the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Selden and Farmingville, and west of

Bald Hill Bald Hill may refer to: * Bald Hill, Texas, unincorporated community in Texas, US * Bald Hill, Limestone County, Texas, ghost town in Texas, US; named for summit in Texas, US * Bald Hill (Australia), a popular lookout in Illawarra, New South Wales, ...

. Notably, Telescope Hill was the site of a fire observation station operated by the New York State Conservation Commission and later the Conservation Department from 1918 to 1959.

Geology

As with the Bald Hill area, Telescope Hill is part of the

Ronkonkoma Moraine The Ronkonkoma Moraine, in the geography of Long Island, forms the southern of two ridges along Long Island's "backbone." Description The Ronkonkoma Moraine, a terminal moraine, predates the Harbor Hill Moraine (which reached Long Island during ...

, which runs east to west along the center of the Town of Brookhaven, and marks where the glacier which formed Long Island stopped its advance.

Fire Lookout Tower

Beginning in 1918, a series of

fire lookout tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower, or lookout tower is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit ...

s were constructed on Long Island to aid in the fighting of wildfires. The first constructed was on Telescope Hill in the fall of 1918 (only two were constructed that year), and went into operation in March 1919.Bill Starr,
The Fire Towers of the New York State Bureau of Forest Fire Control
'' p.5, 15 (2003)
, Retrieved June 2, 2014New York State Conservation Department
Annual Report
p. 139 (1920) The tower was a 60-foot

Aermotor The Aermotor Windmill Company, or Aermotor Company, is an American manufacturer of wind-powered water pumps. The widespread use of their distinctive wind pumps on ranches throughout the arid plains and deserts of the United States has made their ...

LS40 model, with a cab placed on top. The Telescope Hill tower reported 120 fires between March 17 and June 15, 1919. Visitors were invited to climb the tower and enjoy the view. The first fire observer was Al Lucas, who served for two years, followed by Frank Forsyth, who served until 1948. Starting in 1922, the Suffolk County fire observers were supervised by State District Fire Ranger Clarence Dare of Selden. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a new cab was built below the original cab to be used for fire watching, and the original was used by Civil Defense observers. Nazi "U-Boats" were spotted three times from Telescope Hill, one of which was captured after being spotted.Paul Laskey, ''The Fire Observation Towers of New York State'', p.12 (2003) ()("This proved true when on Long Island a tower observer on Telescope Hill spotted an enemy sub which was apprehended.")WLIW, David Overton, Brookhaven Town Historian on Selden
February 6, 1994 As suburban growth spread through the area and fire tower use began to decline across the country, the State ended its support of fire towers on Long Island after the 1959 season. The Telescope Hill tower was removed in 1960.

Radio Tower

Telescope Hill currently hosts radio tower facilities at its summit, including the facilities that broadcast

WALK-FM WALK-FM (97.5 FM) is a hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Patchogue, New York, and serving Long Island. The station is owned by Connoisseur Media, with studios and offices located at Airport Plaza in Farmingdale, New York, and its ...

References

{{reflist

External links

The Fire Towers of New York (Long Island)
Brookhaven, New York Landforms of Suffolk County, New York Hills of New York (state)