NUGGET #27
Airplane spotting posts were maintained from December 1941 into 1945 and again during the Korean conflict. They were designed to spot and report enemy aircraft in the days before radar became extensive and effective. The first, briefly used post was at Wadsworth Lewis’s estate, Taghkanick, but was soon permanently established on East Ridge east of the high school where, eventually a tower was built next to a small octagonal office that had once been a boathouse on the F.E. Lewis estate. Between December 7, 1941 and May 29, 1944 during World War II, some 200 men, women and children staffed the airplane spotting posts in town, which reported more than 7,000 aircraft to military officials.
From Ridgefield Press 8/23/1945.
