WINTHROP -- Back in the 1960s, a wisp of smoke in the distance sent Dana Roberts to a special instrument to determine direction -- an azimuth -- and then to a book that recorded the locations of mills and town dumps, places where smoke was a regular occurrence.

Occasionally Roberts, now 78 and living in Winthrop, would radio a forest watchman in another lookout tower, and the two would determine if the source of the smoke was unknown and whether a warden should be called to investigate.

"I was hired on as a forest watchman in 1963," Roberts said recently, describing a four-year, seasonal tenure in the fire lookout tower atop Mt. Pisgah in Winthrop. "I went there in April and got done in October. If we were still alive in the spring, they'd hire us again."

The 7-day-a-week job came with a cabin for the family, spectacular views and a steady stream of curious visitors who climbed the steps of the 60-foot-tall steel tower to reach Roberts in the cab at the top.

Now the Mt. Pisgah Fire Tower, decommissioned in 1992 when air patrols replaced tower lookouts, a popular destination for many a day-hiker, has been enrolled in the National Historic Lookout Register and is about to have improved access.

Blue blazes mark the hiking trail to the summit of the 810-foot mountain, and a former road to the top is popular with mountain bikers. Anyone brave enough to mount the stairs to the top can be rewarded with a view of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire -- depending on the weather.

Owned by the Town of Winthrop and managed jointly with the Kennebec Land Trust, which holds a conservation easement, the Mt. Pisgah tower soon should be easier to reach.

A Maine Conservation Corps crew is planning to improve the trails that lead to the summit this Wednesday through Friday, according to Jim Connors, Kennebec Land Trust steward for the Mt. Pisgah properties.

"The way we've been handling trail work is taking advantage of Winthrop's (high school) Day of Caring, the conservation corps, and occasionally organizing a volunteer effort," Connors said.

The close cooperation was evidenced last week when Connors, Winthrop Town Manager Cornell Knight, and Town Councilor Jim Norris replaced four of the wooden steps on the tower.

"Climbing the tower is almost like a rite of passage," Connors said. "It takes courage getting all the way to the top."

For the next project, the town bought cedar planking to be used to build bog bridges.

"The idea is to keep community involved by providing the opportunity for trail work, and to have a stewardship plan in place and know what you're going to do," Connors said. He said the state retains the right to use the tower if needed.

Bill Cobb, Maine Director of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, is scheduled to present certificates about the new designation at a Town Council meeting on Oct. 6.

The National Historic Lookout Register is maintained by the American Resources group in Washington, D.C. The group describes itself as "a cooperative effort of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, the National Forestry Association, the National Woodlot Owners Association, the U.S. Forest Service and state foresters and Department of the Interior agencies."

The group considers for inclusion on the list towers and lookouts on the basis of design, location, age, ownership and structure.

The Mt. Pisgah tower was erected in 1949 by the Maine Forest Service. For years it served as a field trip destination for first-graders at Winthrop Grade School. The tower is reprised on murals in downtown Winthrop, and the high school has an echo of the tower built into it.

Roberts recalled having about 600 visitors his first season as watchman, and numbers rising each year.

"You went to work at 9 a.m. and came down at 6 in the evening if everything was all quiet," Roberts said. He recalled getting a paycheck of just under $100 a week.

He said the tower watchers helped prevent forest fires just by their presence. "It kept people's attention on forest fires," he said. "They knew if they had a fire without a permit, they'd probably get called on it and then they'd have to go see the judge."

There was little need to keep watch at night, he said, since the afternoon breezes quieted and dew dampened the ground.

He recalled spotting a fire in Leeds caused by a sparks from a passing train.

"It gave the fire department all kinds of conniption fits for a few minutes," he said.

The tower was furnished with the basics. "I had an office chair on long legs and a radio set in the corner and a telephone," he said.

Some days were colder than others, and he recalled particularly chilly Aprils when strong winds caused the steel cab to vibrate.

"They did supply me with a kerosene space heater," he said. "That thing stunk worse than a skunk. It had to be quite chilly before I'd light that, but it did get lit a few times."

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com