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Fire lookout · Jefferson County, Alabama

Crawford Lookout Site

100-ft Aermotor fire tower in Bluff Park, Hoover, Alabama; tower removed 1992, restored cab on display on Patton Chapel Road. Build date differs across sources.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Hoover Sun describes a drive-up cab with a historic marker on site; no hours or permit rules found

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower100-foot steel Aermotor tower with an observation cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1941
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
558 ft (170 m)
Agency
City of Hoover
Land
Unknown
Location
Jefferson County, Alabama
Coordinates
33.38620, −86.82910
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-al-crawford

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.1 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. 1941 BuiltMay 1, 1941 item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page calls the tower new; named for George Gordon Crawford. The Hoover Sun's 63-year span points to about 1929 insteadSources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, hooversun.com
  2. No record between 1941 and 1971
  3. 1971 EventNational Geodetic Survey description (1971) still describes the state fire lookout tower, about 100 feet highSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1971 and 1992
  5. 1992 RemovedTower torn down and misplaced; cab removed and hidden on city propertySource: hooversun.com
  6. No record between 1992 and 2011
  7. 2011 EventA member of the Hoover Fire Department found the cab on a lot at Fire Station No. 4; a restoration project that began May 2011 was completed by a partnership between the Historical Society and the City of HooverSource: hooversun.com
  8. 2012 MovedCab placed in a small park at 1591 Patton Chapel Road, across from Hoover Fire Station No. 2Sources: firetower.org, hooversun.com
  9. 2012 RestoredRestored cab dedicated October 31; Sun report dated December 31, 2012Source: hooversun.com
  10. 2016 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 27, 2016 as US 1614, AL 3; nominated by Andrew ZerbeSource: firetower.org
  11. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Crawford tower stood at the intersection of Shades Crest and Farley roads in Bluff Park, in Hoover, Alabama.1 The register describes it as a 100-foot steel Aermotor tower in Jefferson County.2 It was named for George Gordon Crawford, the late president of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company.3

The sources disagree about when it went up. A May 1941 item, quoted on the Forest Lookouts site, calls the tower new and says it was the fourth the State Department of Conservation had put up in Jefferson County.3 The Hoover Sun says the tower came down in 1992 after 63 years on the job, which would put its start around 1929.1

The 1941 item also describes Shades Mountain as the scene of forest fires in recent years.3

A 1971 survey description, quoted on the same page, calls the station an Alabama state fire lookout tower: a four-legged steel structure topped by an observation cabin, about 100 feet high.3

The Sun reports that the tower was torn down and misplaced in 1992, but its cab was removed and hidden on city property.1 A member of the Hoover Fire Department found the cab on a lot at Fire Station No. 4 on Municipal Drive, and a restoration project that began in May 2011 was completed by a partnership between the Historical Society and the city.1

The register says the tower is no longer at its original site, and the restored cab is in a small park near the Hoover Fire Department at 1591 Patton Chapel Road.2 The Sun reports that the Historical Society dedicated the cab on October 31 at its new location across from Hoover Fire Station No. 2.1 The Sun's report of the ceremony is dated December 31, 2012.1

Delores Wilkinson, the society's president, says visitors can walk up to the cab from their car, and the site has a historic marker.1 No source I read describes what, if anything, remains at the original Shades Crest and Farley site.2

The register lists the site as US 1614, AL 3, nominated by Andrew Zerbe and registered May 27, 2016.2

  1. Partnership leads to preservation of Bluff Park icon, Hoover Sun, https://hooversun.com/peopleplaces/partnership-leads-to-preservation-of-bluff-park-icon (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Crawford Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/al/crawford-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Crawford - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/crawford.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Crawford Lookout cab
Crawford Lookout cabPhoto: Andrew Zerbe, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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, 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

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