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Fire lookout · Ouachita County, Arkansas

Poison Springs Fire Tower

Also known as Poison Springs (#92)

100-foot steel Aermotor tower in Ouachita County; the register says CCC built it in 1938, but 1935 newspaper plans conflict. Served until 1985; now a radio relay site.

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
Cab on a tower100-foot all-steel Aermotor tower with a 7 by 7 foot cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1938
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
381 ft (116 m)
Agency
Arkansas Forestry Commission
Land
State land
Location
Ouachita County, Arkansas
Coordinates
33.65058, −93.02491
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ar-poison-springs

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 3.0 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. 1935 EventCamden News items describe a state forestry commission plan for a steel tower near Chidester; a March 21, 1935 notice said construction would start that SaturdaySource: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1938 BuiltRegister says the Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1938; this conflicts with the 1935 newspaper plansSource: nhlr.org
  3. 1941 Condition assessmentCoast and Geodetic Survey station description: all steel, enclosed cab at the top, 100 feet highSource: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1941 and 1985
  5. 1985 ClosedRegister says the tower served the state forest and surrounding counties until 1985Source: nhlr.org
  6. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered July 16, 1996Source: nhlr.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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Poison Springs Fire Tower is a 100-foot steel Aermotor tower in Ouachita County, Arkansas, on the Poison Springs State Forest.1,2

The register says the Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1938.1 Camden News items from early 1935, reproduced on the Central US Lookouts page, describe plans for a state steel tower near Chidester. A March 21, 1935 notice said construction would start that Saturday.2 I found no source that reconciles those newspaper plans with the register's 1938 date, so I treat the build date as disputed.1,2

The planned site was on the old Lester mill company property, near the old Poison Springs Civil War battlefield.2 A 1941 Coast and Geodetic Survey station description, copied on the same page, describes a steel tower with a closed-in cab and a height of 100 feet.2

The register says the tower served the state forest and surrounding counties until 1985.1 It does not name the people who staffed the tower.1

The register says the steel tower is now a radio relay site for the Arkansas Forestry Commission.1 I found no source describing public access, and a working radio site is not a place to assume you can climb. Ask the Arkansas Forestry Commission before you visit.

  1. Poison Springs Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ar/poison-springs-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Poison Springs (#92), Central US Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/poison-springs.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Poison Springs Fire Tower
Photo: 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, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: ownership, links centraluslookouts.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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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

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