Fire lookout · Oktibbeha County, Mississippi
Maben Lookout Tower
Oktibbeha County, MS tower described by the NHLR as a 100 ft Aermotor with a parallel staircase; administered by the Mississippi Forestry Commission, registered July 2022, with no build date found.
- Standing
- Access unknown
- Verified
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
- Type
- Cab on a tower100 ft Aermotor with a parallel staircaseThe design: Aermotor
- Built of
- SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- Unknown
- Height
- 100 ft (30.5 m)
- Elevation
- 604 ft (184 m)
- Agency
- Mississippi Forestry Commission
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Oktibbeha County, Mississippi
- Coordinates
- 33.49981, −88.79328
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-ms-maben
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 3.0 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
- 2020 EventListed as 'Maben Tower' under Forestry Commission, State in the July 29, 2020 state public-lands list; the list does not confirm it is the same structureSource: sos.ms.gov
- 2022 Condition assessmentSite visit July 3, 2022; the Register notes someone had recently replaced some missing boardsSource: nhlr.org
- 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 10, 2022 as US 1673, MS 36Source: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The Maben Lookout Tower is in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi.1 The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as a 100-foot Aermotor with a parallel staircase, administered by the Mississippi Forestry Commission.1
The Register lists the build date as unknown.1 A state list of public lands by agency, dated July 29, 2020, includes a "Maben Tower" under the Forestry Commission.2 The list does not say whether that is the same structure the Register describes.2
The Register registered the tower on July 10, 2022, and lists a site visit on July 3, 2022.1 The description also notes recent repair work, with some missing boards replaced.1 That is the most recent condition note we found, and it is about upkeep rather than a full survey.1
We found no fire history or staffing record for the tower. None of the sources we read say whether the public may visit or climb it, so check with the Forestry Commission before going near the tower, and do not climb it.
- Maben Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ms/maben-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Public Lands by Agency and by Location, Mississippi Secretary of State, July 29, 2020, https://www.sos.ms.gov/content/documents/lands/Public%20Lands%20by%20Agency%20by%20Location.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) 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
- 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
- NHLR register entry US 1673 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Public Lands by Agency and by Location (July 29, 2020) (Mississippi Secretary of State) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.