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Fire lookout · Hinds County, Mississippi

Hinds Lookout Tower

Also known as Raymond Lookout Tower

Hinds County, MS 100-ft Aermotor administered by Mississippi Forestry Commission, registered 2022 as US 1659 and possibly also called Raymond; build date unknown, and the 2022 visit noted agency use.

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. The register says the site appears to still be in use by the Forestry Commission and describes no public access; ask the agency before visiting

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower100ft Aermotor with a straight internal staircaseThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Elevation
464 ft (141 m)
Agency
Mississippi Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Hinds County, Mississippi
Coordinates
32.22848, −90.36694
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ms-hinds

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 2.8 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. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 10, 2022 as US 1659, MS 24; nominated by Jason JohnsSource: nhlr.org
  2. 2022 EventSite visit recorded in the register for July 9, 2022Source: nhlr.org
  3. 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 Hinds Lookout Tower is in Hinds County, Mississippi. The National Historic Lookout Register gives its elevation as 464 feet (141 meters) and describes a 100-foot Aermotor with a straight staircase inside.1 OpenStreetMap lists the same spot as the Raymond Lookout Tower, and the register gives "Raymond" as a possible other name.2,1

The register does not say when the tower was built. It lists the build date as unknown and names the Mississippi Forestry Commission as administrator.1 We found no account of who staffed the tower or of any fire it watched.

The register records a site visit on July 9, 2022. Its note says the Forestry Commission still seems to be using the site.1 The tower was registered the next day, July 10, 2022, as US 1659, MS 24, with Jason Johns as nominator.1

We found no public access information. Because the register points to ongoing agency use, ask the Forestry Commission before going near the site.

  1. Hinds Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ms/hinds-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Raymond Lookout Tower, OpenStreetMap, https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/357997213 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hinds Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hinds Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hinds Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hinds 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, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: type, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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.