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Fire lookout · Perry County, Missouri

Perry Fire Tower

Perry County, MO: 100-foot steel tower built about 1965 by the state conservation department; use ended in the 1980s and climbing is barred today.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. 2018 plan: picnic area with limited public use; tower in caretaker status and prohibited from climbing until restoration plans are complete

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Unknown (as of 2026)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower100-foot steel Aermotor LS40 towerThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Steel
Built
1965
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
863 ft (263 m)
Agency
Perry County, which took the site over from the Missouri Department of Conservation (deed 2022-23 per NHLR)
Land
State land
Location
Perry County, Missouri
Coordinates
37.62084, −90.01216
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mo-perry

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 3.5 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. 1965 BuiltMissouri Department of Conservation erected the tower in fiscal 1964-65; the Register says circa 1965Sources: nhlr.org, centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1965 and 1980
  3. 1980 ClosedUse ended in the 1980s; the Register gives no year, so 1980 marks only the start of that decadeSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1980 and 2021
  5. 2021 EventPerry County commission began talks with the Department about taking over the siteSource: republicmonitor.com
  6. 2022 EventSite deeded to Perry County for historical purposes; the Register dates this to 2022-23Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 2, 2026; nominated by Jerry LutesSource: nhlr.org
  8. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Missouri Department of Conservation put up the Perry Fire Tower around 1965, in its 1964–65 fiscal year.1,2 The department's annual report for that year describes a 100-foot steel tower erected at the Perryville towersite.2 The Register describes it as an LS40-type steel Aermotor, built to catch and head off forest fires in southeast Missouri.1

The Register places the tower in the Perryville Fire Protection District, which also had several other tower sites in the southeast of the state.1 In 1966 the department ran 102 fire towers across Missouri, and the Forest Service ran 43.3 Most of the state's towers were about 100 feet tall, and Perry's 100-foot height fits that pattern.1,3 We found no names of the people who worked this tower and no specific fire it watched.

The Register says use of the tower ended in the 1980s, without a more exact date.1 The department kept the five-acre site and put a separate communications tower on it.1 Its 2018 management plan says the area's purpose today is keeping the radio tower for communications.4

In 2021 the Perry County commission began talks with the department about taking over the site, hoping to keep it as a roadside attraction.5 The Register dates the county's ownership to a 2022–23 deed made for historical reasons.1

Today the Register lists the tower in caretaker status, and says climbing is prohibited until restoration plans are complete.1 A 2021 newspaper report said a padlock at the top kept climbers off the platform. The structure is 100 feet tall at the cab entrance.5

The site is on the north side of Highway J. Go south on Highway 51 about 10 miles, then turn west on Highway J for about three miles.5 The newspaper puts the site about 13 miles from Perryville and mentions a picnic table.5 The 2018 plan provides that picnic area with limited public use.4

  1. Perry Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mo/perry-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Perry, Forest Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/perry.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Shooting the Smoke, Missouri Conservationist, https://mdc.mo.gov/magazines/missouri-conservationist/2022-07/shooting-smoke (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. 2018 Southeast Towersites Management Plan, Missouri Department of Conservation, https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/2018%20Southeast%20Towersites%20Area%20Plan.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Commissioners begin dialogue on fire tower, Perryville Republic Monitor, https://republicmonitor.com/stories/commissioners-begin-dialogue-on-fire-tower,11907 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Perry Fire Tower
Photo: Jerry Lutes, via 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, access, staffing, 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

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