Fire lookout · Spencer County, Indiana
Lincoln State Park Fire Tower
Also known as Lincoln City, Lincoln, Lincoln Park
A 120-foot Aermotor fire tower in Lincoln State Park, Spencer County, Indiana, built by CCC crews around 1935 and open to the public as of 2025.
- Standing
- Open to the public
- Verified
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Open to the public. The NHLR entry says it is open to the public as of 2025.
- Can you climb it?
- Yes
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
- Trail
- Mark A's undated site notes say it is climbable up into the cab.
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower120-foot Aermotor tower built by Civilian Conservation Corps crewsThe design: Aermotor
- Built of
- SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- 1935
- Height
- 120 ft (36.6 m)
- Elevation
- 597 ft (182 m)
- Agency
- Indiana Department of Natural Resources
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Spencer County, Indiana
- Coordinates
- 38.09674, −86.99003
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-in-lincoln-state-park
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 3.1 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
- 1935 BuiltNHLR gives 1935 for CCC construction. Mark A notes a wall photo labelled circa 1937 and a 1936 county map that does not show the tower.Sources: nhlr.org, indianafiretowers.com
- No record between 1935 and 2026
- 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 2, 2026 as US 1813, IN 12; nominated by Eli Gray.Source: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
Lincoln State Park Fire Tower stands in Lincoln State Park in Spencer County, Indiana, and Mark A's site notes it is the only tower in that county.1,2 The Indiana Department of Natural Resources administers the tower.1
The National Historic Lookout Register, which registered the tower on January 2, 2026, says it is a 120-foot Aermotor design that Civilian Conservation Corps crews built in 1935.1 Mark A is less sure of that date. A photo at the park's nature center has a handwritten note dating it to about 1937, and a 1936 county map leaves the tower off, which he reads as a sign it was not yet built.2
A structural survey that Mark A quotes says the CCC built many fire towers on Indiana state lands, many since torn down, and calls this one typical of that work.2
Today the register lists the tower as open to the public as of 2025.1 Mark A describes it as standing and climbable up into the cab, and says the climb is fun with a great view.2
- Lincoln State Park Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/in/lincoln-state-park-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Lincoln - Indiana Fire Towers (by Mark A), https://www.indianafiretowers.com/lincoln/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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.
Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site) Gave us: photos, 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
- OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures (opens another site) Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- Indiana Fire Towers (Mark Armantrout) (opens another site) Gave us: links Indiana Fire Towers (Mark Armantrout, indianafiretowers.com) · No licence stated; facts only (names, county, coordinates, a status read from the condition line, links). The guide's histories, trip reports and photos are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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
- NHLR register entry US 1813 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- FFLA Indiana lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Lincoln City (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
- Lincoln on Indiana Fire Towers (Mark Armantrout) (opens another site)
- OpenStreetMap node 1699075708 (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.