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Fire lookout · Shannon County, Missouri

Thomasville Fire Tower

Also known as Thomasville (Federal)

Shannon County, MO tower built by the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1957; NHLR-registered 2013 and described as still staffed in high fire danger, but a Forest Lookouts list marks it Removed.

Status unknown: We do not know yet whether it still stands. Disputed: NHLR describes it as still staffed in periods of high fire danger; a Forest Lookouts list marks it Removed. No dated removal confirmed.

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
Status unknown sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower100-ft Aermotor tower with 7x7 cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1957
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
1,102 ft (336 m)
Agency
Missouri Department of Conservation
Land
Unknown
Location
Shannon County, Missouri
Coordinates
36.90089, −91.61431
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mo-thomasville

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 3.4 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. 1957 BuiltBuilt by the Missouri Department of Conservation (NHLR description)Source: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1957 and 2013
  3. 2013 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 1, 2013 as US 974, MO 4Source: nhlr.org
  4. TodayStatus unknownWe do not know whether it still stands.

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 Thomasville Fire Tower is in Shannon County, Missouri, and the Missouri Department of Conservation built it in 1957.1 The Register describes a 100-foot Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab and gives the site's elevation as 1,102 feet (336 meters).1

The Register says the tower remains staffed during periods of high fire danger.1 It does not name the people who staffed it or any fire it watched, and we found no older staffing history in the sources we read.

The Register lists the Missouri Department of Conservation as administrator and records the tower's registration date as September 1, 2013.1

The sources disagree about whether the tower still stands. A Missouri list on the Forest Lookouts site files the tower under the label "THOMASVILLE (FEDERAL)" in Shannon County and marks it "Removed".2 That federal label does not match the Register, which names the state conservation department as administrator.1

A map of the Thomasville Towersite in Shannon County, posted on the Missouri Department of Conservation website, includes a fire tower in its legend.3 Its copyright line is dated 05/16, so it cannot settle whether the tower stands today.3

We found no public access rules for the tower. The map marks one road "not open to public vehicles," but the sources we read do not say whether visitors may go to the tower.3 Check with the Missouri Department of Conservation before going near it, and stay off any tower that is closed or on private land.

  1. Thomasville Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mo/thomasville-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Thomasville (F), Forest Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/thomasville-f.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Thomasville Towersite Map, Missouri Department of Conservation, https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/mo_nature/downloads/conservation-areas/4907map.pdf (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 whether it still stands.

    • Firefinder research: Status unknown
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com): Gone

    Research (2026-10-09) gives unknown where the source records give standing. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, dates, 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: 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, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.