FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Shelby County, Alabama

Pinnacle Lookout Tower

Shelby County, AL steel tower begun by the CCC in the late 1930s and finished by the Alabama Forestry Commission in 1942; NHLR-registered 2009 as US 843. 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' International Derrick & Equipment Company steel tower with 7'x7' cabThe design: IDECO
Built of
Steel
Built
1942
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
802 ft (244 m)
Agency
Alabama Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Shelby County, Alabama
Coordinates
33.22984, −86.71638
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-al-pinnacle

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. 1942 BuiltBegun in the late 1930s by the CCC and finished by the Alabama Forestry Commission in 1942 (NHLR description; Built field 1942)Source: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1942 and 2009
  3. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 2, 2009 as US 843, AL 22; 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 Pinnacle Lookout Tower is in Shelby County, Alabama.1 The National Historic Lookout Register says work on this 100-foot International Derrick & Equipment Company steel tower began in the late 1930s with the Civilian Conservation Corps, and that the Alabama Forestry Commission finished it in 1942.1

A 1819 News profile describes what happened to Alabama's fire towers during World War II. The Civilian Conservation Corps stopped building them when the United States entered the war, leaving some unfinished, and forestry staff stepped in and kept putting up new ones during the war and for a few decades after.2 The 1942 finish date fits that pattern.1,2 The sources we read do not say which parts the Corps built and which the forestry commission completed.

The Register registered the tower on December 2, 2009, as US 843 and AL 22.1 It lists the site at 802 feet, or 244 meters.1

We found no source that names anyone who staffed the tower or any fire it watched. The Register does not say whether the tower 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. Anyone interested should ask the agency before visiting.

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

  1. Pinnacle Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/al/pinnacle-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 Pinnacle Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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.