FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Sussex County, Delaware

Dagsboro Tower Site

Steel fire tower about 1.25 miles north of Dagsboro, Sussex County, Delaware, built in 1931 and removed between 2002 and 2006.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed between 2002 and 2006; no source describes what remains on the site

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 tower100-foot Aermotor LS-40 steel tower with a 7-foot square cabin, upper half glass-enclosedThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1931
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
26 ft (8 m)
Agency
State Forestry Commission (per the state forester's annual reports)
Land
Unknown
Location
Sussex County, Delaware
Coordinates
38.56472, −75.25056 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-de-dagsboro

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 3.3 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. 1931 BuiltBuilt in 1931 per the FFLA page; the state forester's report dates the erection of the towers from July 29 to October 15, 1931Sources: firelookout.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1933 EventWind erosion of the sandy soil around the piers; fenced and planted with pine seedlings in 1932 and 1933, loam fill in 1934Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1939 AlteredOriginal window sash replaced with new cypress sashSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1939 and 1958
  5. 1958 EventExtensive repairs to steps and landingsSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1958 and 2002
  7. 2002 RemovedRemoved between 2002 and 2006; the year shown is the start of that range. Turned over to the State Police for communications purposes before removalSources: firelookout.org, firetower.org, firelookout.org
  8. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterAdded to the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on September 11, 2008Source: firetower.org
  9. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Dagsboro tower, a 100-foot Aermotor LS-40, was built in 1931.1 The state forester's annual report for fiscal 1931 and 1932, as quoted on a lookout-history page, says work on erecting the towers began on July 29, 1931, and that they opened for service on October 15.2 The same report places the Dagsboro tower about a mile and a quarter north of town, on a 35-foot elevation.2

The report describes these steel towers as 100 feet from the ground to the cabin floor and 110 feet overall, with a 7-foot square cabin whose upper half is enclosed in glass.2 The towers were normally open about four and a half months a year, two and a half in spring and two in fall, depending on the weather and the risk of forest fires.2

By 1933 the report says wind was eroding the sandy soil around the piers, and that stopping it had been difficult.2 It partly blames visitors who drove over the knoll and broke the sod.2 The plot was fenced and planted with pine seedlings, and in 1934 seven loads of loam were hauled in to replace the blown sand.2

Later reports mention new window sash in 1939 and repairs to the steps and landings in 1958.2

The register says the tower was removed between 2002 and 2006.3 The lookout-history page says it was turned over to the State Police for communications purposes.1 A Delaware summary adds that all five of the state's towers were later removed, between 2002 and 2006.4

The register added the tower on September 11, 2008.3 No source describes what, if anything, stands on the site today.

  1. Dagsboro, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/de/dagsboro/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Dagsboro, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/dagsboro.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Dagsboro Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/de/dagsboro-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Delaware Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/?page_id=156 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

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 the location by 660 m.

    • FFLA: 38.56472, −75.25056
    • FFLOS: 38.55883, −75.25033

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLA.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, county, elevation, register numbers, dates, 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 Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: location, type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: register numbers Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: height, 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, visiting details, 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.