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Fire lookout · Barnstable County, Massachusetts

Barnstable Fire Tower

Present 68-foot steel lookout on Clay Hill, Barnstable, built 1947 after the wooden and steel towers on Shoot Flying Hill (1897, 1914) came down; 2014 visit found it unstaffed.

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
Not staffed (as of 2014)

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower68-foot steel tower with 10 by 10 foot wooden cab
Built of
Steel
Built
1897
Height
68 ft (20.7 m)
Elevation
66 ft (20 m)
Agency
Mass. Bureau of Forest Fire Control
Land
Unknown
Location
Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Coordinates
41.68517, −70.35767 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ma-barnstable

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 3.7 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. 1897 BuiltFirst wooden tower on Shoot Flying Hill, built by public subscription (a Forest Lookouts summary gives 1890)Sources: firetower.org, capecodfd.com, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1904 StaffedObserver Calvin Benson named in an article the Forest Lookouts page dates to 1904 (first published Aug 15, 1904 per the page) and reprinted August 11, 1913; date unverified, since the text calls the state takeover 'last year'Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1912 AlteredWatchman's cabin built on top of the wooden towerSources: firetower.org, capecodfd.com
  4. 1912 First staffedRegister: first fire lookout in Barnstable County staffed in 1912 on the wooden towerSource: nhlr.org
  5. 1914 BuiltSteel tower on Shoot Flying Hill; 48 ft per the FFLOS page (firetower.org), 50 ft per a 1923 passage quoted on the Forest Lookouts page; the register dates the steel tower to 1912Sources: firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com, capecodfd.com
  6. 1922 StaffedBarnstable Patriot item (May 15, 1922) places Mr. Jenkins at his post in the watch tower on Shoot-Flying HillSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1922 and 1947
  8. 1947 BuiltPresent Clay Hill tower constructed by the MA Bureau of Forest Fire Control; the Brush Breakers history says relocated in 1948Sources: nhlr.org, capecodfd.com
  9. 1947 RemovedShoot Flying Hill tower removed to make way for U.S. Route 6Source: firetower.org
  10. 1948 MovedBrush Breakers history: tower relocated to Clay Hill in 1948 (the register gives 1947)Source: capecodfd.com
  11. No record between 1948 and 1968
  12. 1968 AlteredTower cab rebuilt around 1968-69Source: capecodfd.com
  13. No record between 1968 and 2004
  14. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered February 2, 2004 as US 559, MA 9; nominated by Henry IsenbergSource: nhlr.org
  15. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterFormer Shoot Flying Hill site registered September 3, 2008 as US 35, MA 35Source: firetower.org
  16. 2014 Condition assessmentVisit report March 24, 2014: good condition, stairs and glass sound, unstaffed, no register sign posted, directions not signedSource: nhlr.org
  17. 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 present Barnstable tower stands on Clay Hill in Barnstable County.1 The register says the Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control built it in 1947.1 The lookout's first home was a different hill.1 A 1911 item says a location was secured on Shoot Flying Hill for a new fire observatory, described as the highest point in the vicinity.2

The first tower there was wooden and built by public subscription in 1897.3,4 A summary on the Forest Lookouts page gives 1890 for the original tower, so the sources disagree on the year.2 The register says the county's first fire lookout was staffed on that wooden tower in 1912.1 A watchman's cabin was added on top in 1912, and a steel tower went up in 1914.3,4 The former-site register gives that 1914 steel tower's height as 48 feet, while a 1923 passage quoted on the Forest Lookouts page says 50 feet.3,2 The National Historic Lookout Register dates the steel tower to 1912 instead.1

Observers worked the hill. A 1922 Barnstable Patriot item names a Mr. Jenkins at his post in the watch tower.2 An article the Forest Lookouts page dates to 1904, reprinted in 1913, names Calvin Benson as the observer, who said he had 2,355 visitors the summer before.2 A 1923 item says 1,600 people visited the tower that year.2

The former-site register says the Shoot Flying Hill tower was taken down in 1947 to clear the way for the new U.S. Route 6.3 The National Historic Lookout Register says the steel tower there stood until 1947.1 The Cape Cod Brush Breakers history says the tower was moved to Clay Hill in 1948, a year after the register's construction date for the present tower.4,1

The present tower is 68 feet tall, with a 10-by-10-foot wooden cab.1 The cab was rebuilt around 1968 to 1969.4 A 2014 visit report found the tower in good condition, with the stairs and glass sound and no staff. The visitor noted no register sign and no signed directions.1 The Brush Breakers history says the steel tower is reached from Oak Street in West Barnstable and lies along Route 6, between exits 5 and 6.4

None of the sources read says whether the public may climb the tower. Check with the state before visiting, and do not climb any stairway or cab that is closed to visitors.

  1. Barnstable Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ma/barnstable-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Shoot Flying Hill, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/shoot-flying-hill.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Barnstable Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ma/barnstable-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Fire Towers, The History of Cape Cod Brush Breakers (capecodfd.com), http://capecodfd.com/pages_brush/BB_HX_Story_11_FireTowers.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Barnstable Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Barnstable Fire Tower
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Barnstable Fire Tower
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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 the location by 1.2 km (0.8 mi).

    • NHLR: 41.68517, −70.35767
    • FFLOS: 41.68350, −70.34283

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • OpenStreetMap: Standing

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 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, 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

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