FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Kemper County, Mississippi

Porterville Lookout Tower

Kemper County, MS tower: 1937 International Derrick model, NHLR-registered 2022 as US 1627; administered by the Mississippi Forestry Commission; no staffing or fire history found.

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
Trail
Register says the site was heavily wooded and access to the base was next to impossible (visit date not given)
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower1937 International Derrick model with window shades, a 5-over-3 window layout and an opening six-pane section at the upper centerThe designs: IDECO, Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1937
Height
Unknown
Elevation
373 ft (114 m)
Agency
Mississippi Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Kemper County, Mississippi
Coordinates
32.68562, −88.51018
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ms-porterville

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

  1. 1937 BuiltRegister 'Built' field says around 1937; the description calls it a 1937 model International DerrickSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1937 and 2022
  3. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 4, 2022 as US 1627, MS 17Source: 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 register places the Porterville Lookout Tower in Kemper County, Mississippi, and lists the Mississippi Forestry Commission as its agency.1 The National Historic Lookout Register dates the tower to around 1937 and identifies it as an International Derrick model from that year.1 International Derrick towers are rare in this region, where Aermotor towers are typical.1 The register also describes window shades, a five-over-three layout, and a six-pane section near the top center that can be opened.1 OpenStreetMap tags the structure as a lattice observation tower.2

We found no record of who staffed the tower or what fires it watched.1 The register does not say, and our searches turned up nothing more.1

The register gives a registration date of July 4, 2022, and lists the forestry commission as the agency in charge.1 The register also describes heavy woods around the site, and says the base is nearly impossible to reach.1 We found no date for the last time anyone used the tower, and no record of later changes to the structure.1

The register gives the elevation as 373 feet (114 meters), while OpenStreetMap lists 118 meters, so the two sources differ by a few meters.1,2 We found nothing about public access or rental today.1 Because the Mississippi Forestry Commission manages the site, ask it before going onto the grounds.1

  1. Porterville Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ms/porterville-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Porterville Lookout Tower, OpenStreetMap, https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/357997207 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Porterville Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Porterville Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

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, 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

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