Watch Tower Question

[NW Mailing List]

List, 

I’m putting together a presentation on the industries and rail-related structures along the N&W for a local “on the line” Historical Society (Pickaway County, Ohio), and am considering adding a section on watch towers.

I have three photos of these structures in the county seat of Circleville, and it occurred to me that I don’t know much about them. I have a couple of questions that might lead to more; they are:

What is the correct name for these structures?
Is “watchman” the correct name for the person manning the tower?
What was the responsibility of the watchman?
If a crossing had gates, were the gates operated by the watchman from the tower, or would he have to descend to street level to pull them down manually?
If the crossing didn’t have gates, did he flag the crossing?
Did the watchman just watch, and have a separate person who did “on the ground” work? 
Was there any communication between the watchman in these towers and nearby interlocking towers?

As you may be able to tell, I’m not sure what to ask, so pointers or answers to questions I didn’t ask are welcome. 

Dad once told me that the Circleville interlocking tower operator could remotely control the gates at the adjacent highway (South Court Street / US 23) in the mid-fifties. My assumption is that the pictured towers were far less “high tech” than that.

As a quick history aside, crossing towers were removed through Circleville in two batches; one in 1930, the second in 1938. One street retained watchmen/gate operators until an unknown later date. 

Matt Goodman
Columbus, Ohio, US
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