MISSOURI LOOKOUTS
REFORM
Callaway County
Missouri Conservation Commission
46N-8W-11
Missouri Conservation Commission
46N-8W-11
FY 1947-1948: A 10 acre towersite was acquired. (Missouri Conservation Commission Annual Report)
1949-1950: The 'Official Manual of the State of Missouri' indicates that the towersite is owned by the Missouri Conservation Commission and is 10 acres in size.
October 26, 1972: "The old sentinel didn't fall easily. The fire tower was stronger than Conservation Commission personnel had figured. Supporting braces were sawed away, bolts were driven out with sledges, power saws partially cut through three of the massive legs.
Still it resisted. The cold Tuesday afternoon dragged on. Time after time, ropes were attached to a small bulldozer and tension applied. Time after time the ropes snapped. Half-a-dozen times the structure defied the crew, settling back on its concrete base with creaks and groans.
Built in 1947, the fire tower near Reform Community, in southeastern Callaway County, had served its purpose. A 120-foot steel tower south of Gutherie has replaced the 60-foot wooden tower which was rotting and unsafe.
The Reform tower, a familiar landmark in the area, had been scheduled for destruction last Friday. Transportation difficulties gave it four days of grace.
It was a cold, damp, windy day to go. Its time, however, had run out. Nestled in its dark-green, 20 acre grove of surrounding pine trees, the roar of the dozer and shouts of the crew disturbed the forest stillness as they tried to pull the tower over.
The tower stood out starkly against the slate-gray sky, a belligerent, frustrating reminder of a time when things were built to last.
The dozer won in the end. The leg in the direction of fall was sawed almost through about four feet from the base. A chain was attached to the dozer and tied directly around the base.
Revving up his machine, the bulldozer operator yanked on this four foot 'plug'--at a right angle.
Slowly at first, with a loud snapping of timbers and the collapsing of the topmost portion of the structure, the fall began.
Then the tilt, inharmonious, chillingly incongruent, with agonizing slowness.
Finally the crash, cushioned by the pines, comrades for so many years, performing one last favor.
Eugene McCormack, Reform, had been the towerman at Reform since its construction and is now assigned to the Gutherie tower. He was among the workmen at the site.
The remains of the tower will be cut up and burned, according to crewmen." (Jefferson City Post-Tribune)
Still it resisted. The cold Tuesday afternoon dragged on. Time after time, ropes were attached to a small bulldozer and tension applied. Time after time the ropes snapped. Half-a-dozen times the structure defied the crew, settling back on its concrete base with creaks and groans.
Built in 1947, the fire tower near Reform Community, in southeastern Callaway County, had served its purpose. A 120-foot steel tower south of Gutherie has replaced the 60-foot wooden tower which was rotting and unsafe.
The Reform tower, a familiar landmark in the area, had been scheduled for destruction last Friday. Transportation difficulties gave it four days of grace.
It was a cold, damp, windy day to go. Its time, however, had run out. Nestled in its dark-green, 20 acre grove of surrounding pine trees, the roar of the dozer and shouts of the crew disturbed the forest stillness as they tried to pull the tower over.
The tower stood out starkly against the slate-gray sky, a belligerent, frustrating reminder of a time when things were built to last.
The dozer won in the end. The leg in the direction of fall was sawed almost through about four feet from the base. A chain was attached to the dozer and tied directly around the base.
Revving up his machine, the bulldozer operator yanked on this four foot 'plug'--at a right angle.
Slowly at first, with a loud snapping of timbers and the collapsing of the topmost portion of the structure, the fall began.
Then the tilt, inharmonious, chillingly incongruent, with agonizing slowness.
Finally the crash, cushioned by the pines, comrades for so many years, performing one last favor.
Eugene McCormack, Reform, had been the towerman at Reform since its construction and is now assigned to the Gutherie tower. He was among the workmen at the site.
The remains of the tower will be cut up and burned, according to crewmen." (Jefferson City Post-Tribune)