A Tall Tale

Slayton Tower, aka Mt Hood Tower, was used in World War II to house a small Army outpost who watched for German U-boats. The right image shows the view at sunrise looking out into the harbor over Revere and Nahant beaches. Putting things in context and German U-boats were a real threat sinking over 175 ships while losing only six U-boats. Most of the German offensive was in 1942 as the US defenses stopped it in 1943 and 1944. There are a number of towers along the east coast that served the same function.

The Tower was originally built in the early 1900's. After it was destroyed by a fire it was rebuilt in its present form in 1934. Radar came along in the late 1930's and initially had a range of 100 miles. Actual at sea trials started in January of 1938 on the USS New York. Like any new technology, early radar had its limitations including available radio frequencies, size of both transmit and receive antenna, and the physical limitations of the equipment.

The Tower Photo is modified and shows how it looked until cell phones came along. If you go there today you will see some kind of power or transformer box, a telephone pole and wires. I believe Melrose made a deal with a Cell Phone company to put their equipment at the tower. It’s effective for the same reason the tower was built. It’s on a large hill. Frankly I deleted out the "stuff" as it is a terrible look.

The land at Mt Hood is a mix of a donation of 25 acres from a John C. Slayton in 1907 and another 210 acres purchased by the City of Melrose. The golf course was built as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that was part of Franklin Roosevelt's new deal. Founded May 6 1935, the WPA put over 8.5 million people to work. The WPA was responsible for multiple projects including LaGuardia Airport in New York. LGA opened in 1939 and unto itself created over 20,000 jobs. The WPA helped pull the country out of the Great Depression (1929 to 1939).

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