FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Chilton County, Alabama

Peach Lookout Tower

Chilton County, AL tower built by the Alabama Forestry Commission in 1949 inside a peach orchard; NHLR-registered 2009 as US 815. Current condition not confirmed.

Status unknown: We do not know yet whether it still stands. The Register does not say whether the tower still stands or what condition it is in; the 'standing' status in our record is not confirmed by any source read

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
Status unknown sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower100' Aermotor MC-39 tower with 7'x7' cabThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1949
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
751 ft (229 m)
Agency
Alabama Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Chilton County, Alabama
Coordinates
32.80454, −86.69998
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-al-peach

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 2.9 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. 1949 BuiltBuilt by the Alabama Forestry Commission within a peach orchard (NHLR description and Built field)Source: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1949 and 2009
  3. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 23, 2009 as US 815, AL 16; nominated by Thomas KaufmannSource: nhlr.org
  4. TodayStatus unknownWe do not know whether it still stands.

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 Peach Lookout Tower is near Clanton in Chilton County, Alabama.1 The Alabama Forestry Commission built it in 1949 inside a peach orchard.1 It is a 100-foot Aermotor MC-39 tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab.1 A 1819 News profile says the MC-39 was the most common steel lookout model in Alabama's forests, followed by the LS-40 version.2

The National Historic Lookout Register lists the tower as US 815 and AL 16.1 It was registered on June 23, 2009, on the nomination of Thomas Kaufmann, and the site sits at 751 feet, or 229 meters.1

The sources we read do not name anyone who staffed the tower or any fire it watched. The 1819 News profile notes that when a lookout stopped being staffed, the structure stayed standing, and it gives the most common explanation for the decline: aircraft spotted fires more efficiently.2

The Register does not say when the tower stopped being staffed, whether it still stands, or what condition it is in.1 It names the Alabama Forestry Commission as administrator.1 We found no statement on public access, so anyone interested should check with the agency before going near the site.

The same profile estimates that probably fewer than 75 historic lookouts still stand in Alabama.2

  1. Peach Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/al/peach-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 Peach Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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.

    • Firefinder research: Status unknown
    • NHLR: Standing

    Research (2026-10-09) gives unknown where the source records give standing. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, staffing, 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.