Lookout Show`n Tell #13: Most
Unusual Lookout Designs
1. Dixie Ranch L.O. near
Slidell, Louisiana in 1926. A dairy silo with a recycled oil derrick
on top, and a cabin atop it.
2. Brush Mtn. L.O. near
Ashland, Oregon in 1916-1930. A limbed & peeled spar tree with 66 yew
wood pegs for steps and a crow's-nest 104 feet up. Retired Norwegian
sailor Dan Pederson even had an elevator for his fast escape; a rope,
pully, and a bucketful of rocks for the counter-weight.
3. Roderick Dhu L.O. near
Greenwood, British Columbia since 1990. Its small 6x6' fiberglas cab is a
familiar design across Canada; but the TV broadcast tower it sits on
isn't. Most of them sit at the top of a 100' ladder straight up a
lightweight metal tower. At least, in B.C. and Alberta, the sleeping
quarters at all lookouts are luxury; even when fifty miles from the
nearest road.
4. Livingston L.O.,
Louisiana in 2000. Its plain and simple 7x7' Aermotor metal cab sits
atop a unique 20' spiral staircase extension above a typical Aermotor
tower; a quick fix for a tree canopy that grew over twenty
years.
5. Brasstown Bald L.O.,
Georgia since 1966. At 4,784', it is the highest point in the state.
The unique fire tower is part of a visitor center in north Georgia's beautiful
Blue Ridge Mountains.
6. Harney Peak L.O.,
South Dakota since 1938. Elevation 7,242'. Highest point in the
Black Hills, and the highest place between the Rockies and the Alps of
Europe.
7. William Penn Memorial Fire
Tower on a hilltop overlooking Reading, Pennsylvania since 1939.
The 120' tall brick landmark is today undergoing full restoration by the
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry for possible use again as a fire
lookout.
8. Mount Constitution
L.O. on Washington's Orcas Island. A tribute to the Civilian
Conservation Corps of the 1930s, now, and for always.
9. Sula Peak L.O. Montana
since 2001. It replaced a victim of the great fires of 2000.
10. Mount Buller in
Victoria Australia. Today.
