W.W. Ely made the first recorded ascent of Ampersand Mountain in 1872. Ely and Dr. William Reed and three others later cleared the summit of trees, and built a lean-to. The following year, Verplanck Colvin cleared the remaining trees while working on his survey of the Adirondacks, and subsequent fires and erosion left the summit bare. Colvin credits Ely for the mountain's name. New York State built a fire lookout station on the summit in 1911, although a fire tower was deemed unnecessary due to the open views available. By 1920, tree growth was such that a steel Aermotor LS40 fire tower was purchased and erected in 1921. The tower was used until 1970, when the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation closed it, as it had become more cost-effective to spot fires using aircraft. The tower was removed in July, 1977. There is a memorial near the summit to hermit Walter Channing Rice, who manned the fire tower from 1915 to 1923.
