For my generation of 1970s teens, we too were mesmerized by the comings and goings at Thacker Mountain. But it was not a descent that captured our youth, but rather the ascension to dizzying heights. The fire tower is the highest point in the county and we were kings and queens of all we surveyed when we dared to go up top. Some girls couldn’t take it and were frozen to the rail and almost cried. We led them slowly down grinning but knowing better than to snicker until later.
“The old tower sure looks short now, because it was at least a mile tall when we were kids.” —Julie Towery Fanton
