FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Jackson County, Alabama

Fabius Lookout Tower

1955 Alabama Forestry Commission International Derrick fire tower, one of few 120-foot examples, in Jackson County; NHLR-registered 2009. Staffing, condition and access unsourced.

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
Type unknown120-foot International Derrick fire tower with a 7 ft x 7 ft metal cabThe design: IDECO
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1955
Height
120 ft (36.6 m)
Elevation
1,588 ft (484 m)
Agency
Alabama Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Jackson County, Alabama
Coordinates
34.83219, −85.75652
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-al-fabius

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.

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

History

Then and now

  1. 1955 BuiltRegister gives 1955 and says the tower was built in the mid-1950sSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1955 and 2009
  3. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 30, 2009 as US 818, AL 19Source: nhlr.org
  4. 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 National Historic Lookout Register lists Fabius Lookout Tower in Jackson County, Alabama, at an elevation of 1,588 feet (484 m).1 The Register says the Alabama Forestry Commission erected it in the mid-1950s, and gives the year as 1955.1 It places the tower among a small number of 120-foot International Derrick fire towers the Commission put up, and describes a 7-by-7-foot metal cab.1

A 1819 News article about Alabama's historic lookout towers says the Aermotor MC-39 was the most common steel model in the state's forests, and that other makes, including International Derrick and Equipment Company towers, were put up in Alabama as well.2 That is useful background for the tower's design, but the article does not mention Fabius.2

The Register added the tower to its listing on June 30, 2009.1 I found no source on its staffing, on any fires it watched, or on its use after the 1950s. The Register does not say whether the tower still stands today.1 I also found no source on public access. Before going near it, check with the Alabama Forestry Commission, and do not climb a tower that is closed or where you have no permission to be.

  1. Fabius Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/al/fabius-lookout-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 Fabius Lookout Tower
Photo: Andrew Zerbe, via 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, 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

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