Berlin Mountain is a prominent peak in the

Taconic Mountains The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range () are a range of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont. ...

of western

New England New England is a region comprising 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 to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and is located adjacent to Massachusetts's border with

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

. It is the highest point in

Rensselaer County Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the ...

. The summit and west side of the mountain are located in New York; the east side lies within Williamstown,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. The mountain is a bald, notable for its grassy summit and expansive views of the

Hudson River Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yo ...

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 kilns 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 of the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Nationa ...

. 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 Mount Everett at 2,608 ft - or 793.1 m - is the highest peak in the south Taconic Mountains. Everett rises nearly 2,000 feet in about a mile from its eastern footings around Sheffield, Mass., and is known for its expansive views; for scrubby ...

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 Brodie Mountain, , is a prominent long ridgeline in the Taconic Mountains of western Massachusetts, known for the former Brodie Mountain (ski area), Brodie Mountain ski area, which closed in 2002. The ridge has eight well defined summits, three o ...

. 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)