"Great Scott!" Traditional Cache
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A small camo'd container close to Scott Tower...
On December 11, 1941, not long after work on the park had been completed, Holyoke's volunteer air raid observation post was moved from the gatehouse of the Ashley Reservoir to the top of Scott Tower. At 450 feet above sea level, its excellent view of the surrounding countryside made it a perfect lookout for potential air attacks, and city officials collaborated with the army and American Legion on establishing a camp at the tower. Three telephone poles brought electricity and a telephone to the small outpost built at the tower's base. After World War II and through the 1950s, the park thrived. With the Mt. Tom reservation and the Mountain Park amusement park nearby, the people of Holyoke had a wide variety of outdoor recreation options minutes away. The beginning of the end for this plethora of public pastimes came in the early 1960s. A newspaper clipping from May 15, 1962 reported that the city's Park and Recreation Commissioners went on record "opposing state highway department plans for elimination of a bridge at Community Field for proposed Interstate 91." The bridge had originally been planned as a way of preserving access to the park and tower, but as the road system began to be built, the bridge was eventually deemed too expensive. The revised plan was for an access road, but the commissioners feared (correctly, it seems) that it would not be built until after the interstate, and access to the tower would be cut off. In the end, of course, the State DPW and the Federal Bureau of Public Roads had their way, and soon after the highway was built, the park and tower fell into decline.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures