FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Calhoun County, Mississippi

Gauley Lookout Tower

Aermotor lookout on a Calhoun County hilltop, described in the present tense by the register; a 1935-36 student history credits CCC workers with a tower on Gauley Mountain, but the register gives no build date.

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
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotorThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1936
Height
Unknown
Elevation
591 ft (180 m)
Agency
Mississippi Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Calhoun County, Mississippi
Coordinates
33.90349, −89.37516
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ms-gauley

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 2.9 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. 1936 BuiltNo year is given. A student account written in 1935-36 already describes the CCC-built towers, so the Gauley tower dates to no later than 1936 if it is the same one.Source: msgw.org
  2. No record between 1936 and 2022
  3. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 26, 2022 as US 1622, MS 15, nominated by Jason Johns.Source: nhlr.org
  4. 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 Gauley tower stands on a hilltop in Calhoun County, Mississippi, at about 591 feet, and the National Historic Lookout Register describes it as an Aermotor lookout tower.1 The register gives no build date.1

The most specific account we found comes from a student history of the county written in 1935 and 1936 and posted on a local history site.2 It describes a camp of Civilian Conservation Corps workers between Calhoun City and Derma, whose crews built two lookout towers for fire prevention: one near Wardwell and the other atop Gauley Mountain.2 The register's Gauley tower is most likely the second of these, given the shared name, but neither source says so outright.1,2

We found no record of who staffed the tower or when it last served as a lookout.1 The register notes that a house once stood next to the tower and has since been torn down, though its foundation remains.1 A quonset hut at the site has lost one of its sides but still stands.1 A tag at the site suggests the U.S. Forest Service managed it at some point.1

The register's present-tense description suggests the tower still stands, but it gives no visit date, no access rules and nothing about climbing.1 The entry was registered on June 26, 2022, nominated by Jason Johns, and that is the most recent date we found.1 The register names the Mississippi Forestry Commission as administrator, so ask that agency before going up anything, and do not climb it without permission.1

  1. Gauley Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ms/gauley-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Calhoun City History, msgw.org, http://msgw.org/calhoun/resources/calhouncityhistory.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gauley Lookout Tower
Photo: 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.