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Fire lookout · Limestone County, Alabama

O'Neal Lookout Site

Georgia-built Aermotor tower moved to Limestone County in 1971, manned from November 1971, dismantled and stored in 2012.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Dismantled in 2012 and stored; the register lists it as removed.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

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

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor MC-39 steel tower with 7 x 7 ft cabThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
781 ft (238 m)
Agency
Alabama Forestry Commission
Land
State land
Location
Limestone County, Alabama
Coordinates
34.83389, −87.02680
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-al-oneal

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. 1971 RebuiltRe-erected by AFC rangers and workers; completion expected mid-JulySource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1971 MovedMoved from Georgia to O'Neal Road, Limestone CountySources: firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1971 First staffedManned from around the first of November 1971 to spot fires in the countySource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1971 and 2012
  5. 2012 RemovedDismantled June 19, 2012 and moved off site to storageSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. 2017 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 24, 2017Source: firetower.org
  7. 2017 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "between 2009 and 2017".Source: FFLOS register entry
  8. 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 steel tower that became Limestone County's fire lookout began its working life in Georgia.1 The register describes it as an Aermotor MC-39 with a 7-by-7-foot cab, first set up in the Chattahoochee National Forest.1 That model was the most common steel lookout in Alabama's forests, according to a 1819 News feature.2

In spring 1971 the county ranger said the U.S. Forest Service had declared the tower surplus and that the state commission had assigned it to Limestone County.3 Crews took it apart in Georgia, carried it to O'Neal Road, and rebuilt it that summer, with completion expected in mid-July.3 The sources disagree about the exact spot. The April announcement put it about four miles north of Athens, while a November report placed it west of town.3 They also disagree on height: 60 feet in April, 46 feet in June and 50 feet in November.3 The register's description also says 50 feet.1

In November 1971 Alabama Forestry Commission officials Howard Swanner and Wallace Tucker began manning the tower to spot fires in the county.3

The last event the sources record for the tower itself is a June 2012 dismantling.3 The tower was taken down and moved to storage while a new site was sought for the refurbished structure.3 The register says it was removed sometime between 2009 and 2017 and gives April 24, 2017 as its registration date.1

Today no source describes the site on O'Neal Road, says whether the tower has been re-erected anywhere, or says whether the land is open to visitors.

  1. O'Neal Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/al/oneal-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Thomas Kaufmann: Keeping Alabama's historic lookout towers, 1819 News, https://1819news.com/news/item/thomas-kaufmann-keeping-alabamas-historic-lookout-towers (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. O'Neal - Forest Lookouts (includes 1971 Athens News Courier clippings and a 2012 entry), Eastern U.S. Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/oneal.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Photo of O'Neal Lookout Site
Photo: 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, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: type, what it is built of, design, height, ownership, 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
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, 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.