Celebrating 100 years of Scenic Views.
As of 2007 this observation tower has been in existence for over 100 years. First built and assembled in 1906 it was located on Mount Joy , Valley Forge PA. Overlooking where George Washington and troops spent the winter of 1776-1777, the turning point of The War For Independence.
In 1988 the tower was dismantled, moved, repaired and reassembled. The Tower now resides on the ridge of Pine Creek Gorge known as The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. The tower now overlooks beautiful PA Grand Canyon Countryside with a panoramic view (360 degrees) of the surrounding land.
The Over Look Tower is around 2100 feet above sea level. It towers above the ground approximately 100 feet. There are about 125 steps to the observation deck. The view is for miles on a clear day. The Observation Tower is open to visitors from sunrise to sunset weather permitting.
Get Driving directions to The OverLook Tower
The following information came from different sources.
Mount Joy Observation Tower
Mount Joy Observation Tower Atop Mount Joy, the highest elevation in the main park area, stood a steel observation tower. After a long climb up the steps, visitors were rewarded with a panoramic view of the Schuylkill and Great Valleys. The tower was closed in the 1980s due to deterioration, liability concerns, and the surrounding trees outgrowing the platform. The tower has since been removed.
In 1909, Valley Forge was graced with a new observation tower on the summit of Mount Joy. At the turn of the century, such towers were springing up at many amusement parks and scenic spots. The park commission had observed: "All battlefields and historical parks have one or more-all but Valley Forge." Money that had been appropriated for the park during Pennypacker's administration finally enabled the park to commission Variety Iron Works to build a tower typical of those engendered by the turn-of-the-century tourist boom. It had a concrete foundation and a corrugated iron roof. It was 75 feet high and 25 feet square at the base. Visitors who climbed to the top found plaques directing their attention to various points of interest visible from that elevation. The tower was dismantled and moved in 1988.
By the time the tower appeared, there was actually something to see in the fields of Valley Forge. The era of monuments had begun with a vengeance, and Valley Forge seemed eager to catch up with Gettysburg, where so many monuments had already been set up that the battlefield looked like a Victorian cemetery. Between 1906 and 1908, the park paid for a series of simple markers to identify the locations of the camps of each colonial brigade in the Continental Army. In 1909, the Montgomery County Historical Society contributed a new granite boulder on the site of the old, damaged marker commemorating Sullivan's Bridge.
This Observation Tower once stood at the top
of Mt. Joy on Inner Line Drive in Valley Forge
Park. At one time the public was able to look out
over the 2100 acre park. Alas, the trees grew and
the tower fell into disrepair and was dismantled.
It was taken to Wellsboro, Pa., where it was repaired and reassembled overlooking the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.