FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Mobile County, Alabama

Orvin Lookout Tower

Mobile County, Alabama, Aermotor MC-39 tower built by CCC Camp S-52; both register pages say removed in the late 2010s. Build year conflicts (1933 vs 1939).

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 sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower100-foot Aermotor MC-39 steel tower with 7 by 7 foot cabThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
263 ft (80 m)
Agency
Alabama Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Mobile County, Alabama
Coordinates
30.92801, −88.12503
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-al-orvin

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 2.8 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. 1933 BuiltDescription on both pages says constructed in 1933 by CCC Camp S-52; the Built field on both pages says 1939Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org
  2. 1939 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  3. No record between 1939 and 2009
  4. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 23, 2009 on the National Historic Lookout Register; nominated by Thomas KaufmannSource: nhlr.org
  5. 2010 Removed'Removed' field on NHLR detail page: "late 2010s" (about 2010).Source: NHLR register entry
  6. 2021 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 8, 2021 on the Former Fire Lookout Sites registerSource: firetower.org
  7. 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 Orvin Lookout Tower was a 100-foot Aermotor MC-39 steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab, administered by the Alabama Forestry Commission in Mobile County.1,2

The Register's description says the tower was constructed in 1933 by Civilian Conservation Corps Camp S-52, and that the builders were Company 1485, a junior African-American unit credited with building four other fire towers.1,2 The built field on both register pages, however, gives 1939.1,2 The sources disagree, and I did not find a third source to settle the date.

The National Historic Lookout Register listed the tower on December 23, 2009. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register added the site on January 8, 2021.1,2

Both pages say the tower was removed in the late 2010s. Neither gives an exact year or says why it came down.1,2 Nothing I read describes its staffing or any fires it helped fight, so those parts of its history are unknown.

Today the tower is gone.1,2 The site now appears on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register as a former lookout, and I found no current public access or rental arrangement for it.2

  1. Orvin Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/al/orvin-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Orvin Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/al/orvin-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Orvin Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Orvin Lookout Tower
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, 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
  3. 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.