FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Clay County, Alabama

Blackjack Tower

Clay County, AL tower completed 1949 on land of CC Twilley, who paid for it; dedication drew 600+. NHLR-registered 2010. Condition, staffing and access not documented.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower100' Aermotor MC-39 modelThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1949
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
1,257 ft (383 m)
Agency
Alabama Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Clay County, Alabama
Coordinates
33.17731, −85.68826
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-al-blackjack

View from the cab

What you see from the cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

Downloads about 3.3 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1949 BuiltCompleted 1949 on land of CC Twilley, who also underwrote the cost; builder not named in the registerSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1949 EventDedication ceremony attended by more than 600 people, the largest crowd ever at the time for a lookout dedication (register)Source: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1949 and 2010
  4. 2010 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 18, 2010 as US 867, AL 45; nominated by Thomas KaufmannSource: nhlr.org
  5. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Blackjack Tower is in Clay County, Alabama.1 The register gives its elevation as 1,257 feet, or 383 meters.1 It describes the tower as a 100-foot Aermotor MC-39 model.1 An opinion column in 1819 News says the MC-39 was the steel lookout model most often found in Alabama's forests.2

The tower was built on the land of CC Twilley, who also paid for it, and it was completed in 1949.1 More than 600 people attended the dedication, which the register describes as the largest crowd up to that point for a lookout dedication.1 The register does not say who built the tower.1 It lists the Alabama Forestry Commission as administrator and cooperator.1

We found no source that names anyone who staffed the tower or any fire it watched.

The register entry was made on January 18, 2010, as US 867, AL 45, with Thomas Kaufmann as nominator.1

The register is the main source we found for this tower. We found no recent report on its condition or on public access. Because many Alabama towers are unsafe and illegal to climb, please do not climb this one, and check with the Forestry Commission before visiting.2

  1. Blackjack Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/al/blackjack-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Thomas Kaufmann: Keeping Alabama's historic lookout towers, 1819 News, https://1819news.com/news/item/thomas-kaufmann-keeping-alabamas-historic-lookout-towers (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Blackjack Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.