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Fire lookout · Coos County, Oregon

Blue Ridge Lookout Site

Coos County, OR tower built 1933, replaced 1958, abandoned 1966 and dismantled 1974 for rot; a 1942 survey marker is the only remains described.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned in 1966 and dismantled in 1974 because of rot; the register and Oregon list both mark the site as gone

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerPole tower with L-4 cab (1933); replaced in 1958 by two 50-foot treated timber towers with 14 x 14 cabinsThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1933
Height
55 ft (16.8 m)
Elevation
1,610 ft (491 m)
Agency
Coos FPA (Coos Forest Protective Association)
Land
Unknown
Location
Coos County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.27110, −124.08647 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-blue-ridge

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.1 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. 1931 EventCoos fire patrol plans a glass-enclosed lookout on Blue RidgeSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1933 BuiltBuilt 1933; reported height 45, 55 or 60 feet (see resolved_conflicts)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 Event1958 newspaper says the tower replaced in 1958 was erected in 1934 (build-year conflict)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1935 StaffedJohn Queen stationed at the lookout during the summerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1937 StaffedJohn Queen stationed at Blue Ridge again (July 7, 1937 item)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1941 StaffedLloyd Jarvis first lookout assigned for the 1941 seasonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1942 AlteredAWS cabin built at the siteSource: firetower.org
  8. 1942 EventCoast and Geodetic Survey station described; disk 6.60 m west of tower centerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1942 and 1958
  10. 1958 Replaced by a new structureOld towers condemned and demolished; two 50-foot towers erected in the same locationsSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1965 EventElk Mountain named as a replacement for Blue Ridge, Brewster Rock and Signal TreeSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. 1966 AbandonedAbandoned 1966Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  13. 1972 EventPublic notice closes Blue Ridge Road to the public because of construction work (September 7, 1972)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  14. 1974 RemovedDismantled during 1974 because of rot; register says removed in the 1970sSources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org
  15. No record between 1974 and 2010
  16. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 22, 2010 as US 765, OR 174Source: firetower.org
  17. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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 Blue Ridge lookout stood in Coos County, Oregon.1 Sources put it between 8 and 10 miles southeast of Coos Bay, depending on which one you read.2,3

The Coos fire patrol planned a glass-enclosed lookout on the ridge in 1931.3 The register dates the first tower to 1933, and the Oregon Lookouts page credits the Civilian Conservation Corps with building it.1,3 The register and firelookout.com say 45 feet, the Oregon page gives 55 feet, and a 1933 newspaper it quotes says each lookout was 60 feet high, so sources disagree about its height.1,2,3 A 1958 newspaper also says the tower it replaced had been erected in 1934, so the build year is not fully settled.3

The Coos fire patrol staffed the lookout during fire seasons in the 1930s and 1940s.3 John Queen, a Marshfield High School instructor, was stationed there during the summer of 1935 and again in 1937.3 Lloyd Jarvis was the first lookout assigned for the 1941 season.3

In 1942 an AWS cabin was built at the site.1 In 1958 the Blue Ridge and Beaver Hill lookouts were condemned and demolished after 23 and 24 years, and two new 50-foot towers were erected in the same locations.3 The register and firelookout.com say the tower was abandoned in 1966.1,2 A 1965 district report said Elk Mountain served as a replacement for Blue Ridge, Brewster Rock and Signal Tree.3 A 1974 report said the old tower had not been used for several years and was dismantled that year because of rot.3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Oregon list also marks the site as gone.4

A 1942 survey description places a bronze disk, set in a concrete marker, 6.6 meters west of the tower's center.3 No source we read says whether that marker still exists, what else remains at the site, or whether it is open to visitors today. The last access notice we found, from 1972, closed the road to the public during construction.3

  1. Blue Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/blue-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Blue Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/blueridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Blue Ridge - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/blue-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon Lookouts list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Blue Ridge Lookout1933 - 1938
Blue Ridge Lookout1933 - 1938 (1938)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Blue Ridge Lookout
Blue Ridge LookoutPhoto: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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.

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 the location by 20 km (13 mi).

    • FFLA: 43.27110, −124.08647
    • FFLOS: 43.16304, −123.88535

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLA.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: location, type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. 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.