Trundy Point MR
Trundy Point Military Reservation was used for Fire Control as part of the Harbor Defenses of Portland from 1922-45. Designated Location 159. Located at the end of Avon Road on Blue Hill in Cape Elizabeth Maine.
1922 Tower
When Battery Foote at Fort Levett was built, it had the longest-range guns in Portland at the time. Due to the distance that the batteries projectiles could travel it was necessary to construct a few Fire Control Towers to help triangulate the location of enemy vessels. In 1922 a steel tower was built with one observation level for Battery Foote. It was used throughout WWII until Battery Foote was deactivated.
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The only remaining steel tower north of New Jersey -
Towers base -
Steel ladder -
Note the deterioration -
Pipe Handrail -
Note the wooden floors -
Concrete Cab
1943 Tower
In 1942 construction began on an eight-story tower near the original 1922 tower. It would have two observation levels. The eighth floor (DPF) was used for Battery Cravens at Peaks Island MR and the seventh floor (DPF) was used for Battery Ferguson at Fort Levett to the best of my knowledge. This tower unlike many in the area did not have an Anti-Aircraft Observation Post.
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Approach to the tower -
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Entrance -
First floor -
Destroyed electric panel -
Communications panel -
Communication cable junction box -
Ascending Stairs -
Descending Stairs -
Floors 1-6 have the same steps to the top -
Sixth Floor -
I don't think that is the original ladder -
Seventh Floor -
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Eighth Floor -
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Window hinges -
DPF on both floors -
Barely visible wood mount for communication equipment -
Descending ladder (Note the plywood trap door)
Present
After the end of WWII both towers were deactivated and returned to the town of Cape Elizabeth. This is the only Fire Control Tower on mainland that is open to the public without supervised access. Although the towers are open some measures have been taken to protect the public. The first set of steps on the steel ladder have been removed and the wooden ladder going to the seventh floor in the 1943 tower has been removed (although sometimes someone leaves a ladder there). The 1943 tower is covered in graffiti. Remains of the military fencing can be seen around the perimeter of the reservation.