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Harlem Fire Watchtower

New York, United States of America

Harlem Fire Watchtower

The Harlem Fire Watchtower, also known as the Mount Morris Fire Watchtower, is a fire lookout tower at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. It is the only survivor of 11 cast-iron watchtowers placed throughout the city starting in the 1850s. Standing 47 feet (14 m) tall, it was bu

ilt by Julius H. Kroehl for $2,300 based on a design by James Bogardus. 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 boxes 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. During the New Deal, the area surrounding the watchtower was rebuilt by government employees as part of the Works Project Administration jobs program. This project created a gracious plaza (sometimes called "the Acropolis"), stone...

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