Description of Historic Place

Monument 83 is a log-structure fire lookout station located in a subalpine clearing that forms the extreme east edge of E.C. Manning Park in southwestern British Columbia, at the Canada-United States border.

Heritage Value

Monument 83 fire lookout station is significant for the scientific, cultural, and aesthetic values of the building and its surrounding landscape, and for its name and placement adjacent to the international border.

Located on a rare open subalpine ridge at the border, with views in all directions, Monument 83 is important for conveying the one-time importance of the fire-watching function of the BC Forest Service and its American counterpart in this remote area of the Cascade Range. The decommissioned lookout conveys to the public the Forest Service's historic mandate to manage the forests of the wilderness by limiting the spread of natural and man-made fires.

Monument 83 fire lookout is important physically as a good example of crossed-log wall construction that is typical of early pioneering cabin construction throughout forested provincial lands. Its architectural form is significant for displaying the function of the building, with its small glass-walled observation room situated on top of the main cabin roof.

The Monument 83 site is important as part of a cluster of lookouts (one Canadian, one American) and as a culturally modified landscape, complete with trees cleared to provide unobstructed views from the observation rooms and to clearly delineate the international border line.

The name 'Monument 83' is important for positioning the site (83 miles from mile zero at Peace Arch Park in Surrey B.C.) and its unique situation on the border.

Source: Ministry of Environment, BC Parks

Character-Defining Elements

Key character-defining elements of Monument 83 include:

Site:
-name 'Monument 83'
-setting on a cleared ridge at the Canada-United States border
-views in all directions

Building:
-simple main gable roof form with cupola-like observation room on top
-log construction
-glass-walled observation room