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\I have wondered what this building is for a while, so I finally poked around. I wish I could say I got inside, but the only viable POEs were open windows on the second story, and I had no idea how sound the building was. However, from looking through the windows, It looked like some sort of equipment storage building. There was what I believe was an A/V cart, as well as an old wooden spool. Outside and around, there were a bunch of these drums that had the letters RFS on them. I have been told they are repeater antennas.
The Tower itself in question has a barbed wire fence around it as well as a security camera, so it is definitely not abandoned. According to its statistics, which I found through antennasearch.com, it is 375 feet tall and owned by the county.
Here is a video I took: https://www.youtub...atch?v=PAYnoQCOhMk
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Hey, I've visited this place a few times myself. Just a heads up, this probably belongs in UE Videos or Northeast United States rather than UE Main.
This is an interesting site for sure. It really amazes me how good its condition is given how easily accessible it is. Maybe most people see the fence from the front and think it's inaccessible. It looks to me like the place used to be a stable and carriage house from the early 1900s. Eagle Rock has been a popular picnicking spot for the better part of a century. The strangest thing about the place for me is that every once in a while I've seen a light on inside.
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I just watched your video and saw the place was locked. Too bad, I think when I checked it out last summer it was completely open. I've been inside a few times, and you didn't miss too much.
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The "water collection drums" are microwave relay antennas that at one time were probably up on that or an older tower at the site.
https://www.rfsworld.com/
The radio compound is registered to the [county] Sheriff's Office and currently used as a public safety radio repeater & microwave relay site. Probably also some cellphone antennas on it too.
I don't think the wooden structure was ever some sort of ranger/fire lookout station. I believe it was purpose-built way-back when (possibly as early as the 1920s) as some sort of radio station. Older radio gear was quite big & bulky (compared to the modern radio equipment hut nearby), and if it was important enough, and/or very finicky, then sometimes a technician on-duty would stay at the location for their shift. For sites that didn't need a technician there always/frequently, because many radio transmitting stations were located on remote hill or mountain tops, there was always a risk that a technician/caretaker could be stuck there during bad weather, so this was another reason the older radio sites may have some sort of living space (bathroom, kitchen, bed area...) in it as well as the spaces housing the radio gear, spare parts, a work bench, generator, etc.
I do get what you mean about the ground level interior kind of looking like a horse stable. Some radio towers and equipment buildings are owned by one person or company, who then leases building and tower space to a variety of others needing radio -- a taxi company, local fire department, etc. and a lot of the interiors of the buildings would have separate, secured space for each renter. That way if I was up there to fix my taxi company radio repeater, I couldn't poke-around with the gear belonging to someone else (stealing a fuse, just so I could get my system back ion the air, etc.).
The barn-style doors on the second floor would have been to get large, heavy equipment in or out. BUT of course if it did ever serve as a barn, the doors could have been used to get bales of hay into the hayloft... But it looks like kind of a strange place for a horse or livestock barn, great site for a radio facility, now & throughout the past.
/-/ooligan
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. |
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