Fire lookout · Lawrence County, Alabama
Central Lookout Tower
100-foot steel tower in Bankhead National Forest, Lawrence County, built 1929-30 and NHLR-registered 2023; a visitor kiosk is nearby, climbing access unconfirmed.
- Standing
- Open to the public
- Verified
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Open to the public. Visitor kiosk site near the tower; no source says whether the tower may be climbed
- Can you climb it?
- Unknown
- Road to the top?
- Yes, you can drive up
- Trail
- Kiosk near the tower on AL Highway 33, about 11.4 miles south of Moulton, per the Alabama Birding Trails guide
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower100-foot steel tower; NHLR says not an Aermotor and probably by the International Derrick Company (unconfirmed)The design: IDECO
- Built of
- SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- 1929
- Height
- 100 ft (30.5 m)
- Elevation
- 996 ft (304 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Lawrence County, Alabama
- Coordinates
- 34.34536, −87.33848
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-al-central
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 3.2 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
- 1929 BuiltNewspapers describe construction in 1929 and near completion by October; NHLR gives 1930 or earlier and cites a 1930 mapSources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- 1929 First staffedSilas Black named as keeper of the towerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- 1930 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
- 1930 EventMollie Downing climbs to the top; reported June 26, 1930Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- 1940 StaffedFrank Armor named chief observer for the Third Army aircraft-warning service during May maneuvers (planned, per April 1940 report)Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1940 and 2023
- 2023 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 1, 2023Source: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The Register names the U.S. Forest Service as the administrator of the Central Lookout Tower, which stands in Bankhead National Forest in Lawrence County, Alabama.1
Newspapers from 1929 followed its construction.2 In May the Birmingham News reported that a new 100-foot steel observation tower would be built near the middle of the forest on Cheatham Road.2 By October the paper said it was nearing completion and would be called the Central lookout, to tell it apart from the forest's other towers.2 The Register says it was built in 1930 or earlier, and a 1930 map shows a Central Tower east of Cheatham Road.1
The Register describes a 100-foot tower that is not an Aermotor. Its writer believes the International Derrick Company made it but could not confirm that.1
The 1929 report names Silas Black as the tower's keeper and says he had moved his family into a government-erected home.2 In June 1930 the Decatur Daily reported that Mollie Downing, who was well past seventy, had climbed to the top, the oldest woman yet to do so.2 In April 1940 the same paper said Frank Armor would be chief observer at the tower for the Third Army's aircraft-warning service during May maneuvers, with help from two Civilian Conservation Corps men and a Moulton resident.2
The Register records a site visit on November 26, 2022, and the tower was registered on August 1, 2023. It does not say whether the public may climb the tower.1
A visitor kiosk for the North Alabama birding trail sits near the tower, and the trail guide says to reach it by driving south on AL Highway 33 about 11.4 miles from Moulton.3 The guide does not say whether visitors may climb the tower, so ask forest staff before going up.3
- Central Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/al/central-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Central, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/central.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Bankhead National Forest - Central Firetower, Alabama Birding Trails, https://alabamabirdingtrails.com/sites/bankhead-national-forest-central-firetower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site) Gave us: height, links easternuslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures (opens another site) Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, visiting details, 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
- NHLR register entry US 1746 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Bankhead National Forest - Central Firetower (Alabama Birding Trails) (opens another site)
- Central (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
- OpenStreetMap node 358996990 (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.