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Fire lookout · Linn County, Oregon

Monument Peak Lookout Site

Linn County, OR ground lookout on Monument Peak in Willamette NF; cabin from 1921, 14x14 house 1942, staffed into the 1950s; removed 1973, no source describes the site now.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1973 per the Register and Forest Lookouts; firelookout.com says destroyed that year. No source we read describes what remains at the site

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. No source we read says whether the site is open to the public

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab built 1942 atop the middle summit (Register); 14x14 standard lookout house on a concrete base (1946 survey)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1921
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,725 ft (1,440 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Linn County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.69848, −122.32734
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-monument-peak

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.7 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. 1914 EventAlidade established on the peak (c.1914, Forest Lookouts)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1916 EventCamp established on the peak (Register and firelookout.com)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1921 BuiltLookout house or cabin added on the peakSources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1929 StaffedMike Hobson employed at the lookout station for three months (October 1929 report)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1930 StaffedMike Hobson in charge of the lookout station (September 1930 report)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1932 MovedLinn County fire association moves the lookout station to a more advantageous position a short distance from the old oneSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1934 StaffedArville Downing stationed as lookout on Monument PeakSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1938 Condition assessmentDistrict warden report says the peak needs a new fire finder and lookout houseSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1942 BuiltLinn County Fire Patrol association completes a new 14x14 standard lookout house on the summit (report of August 1942); Register gives the L-4 cab as built in 1942 atop the middle summitSources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. 1942 EventAWS post activated August 13, 1942 (Portland Filter Center listing)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1942 StaffedEd Cox and Henry Thompson on duty for the duration of the warSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. 1943 ClosedAWS post deactivated September 22, 1943Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  13. 1946 Condition assessmentLinn County FPA survey: 14x14 standard house on a concrete base, in need of paint, fire finder disk to be replacedSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  14. 1948 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Albert Simons at the lookout for the rest of the summerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  15. 1956 StaffedSimons on duty at the Monument Peak lookout station; a 1956 report says they have served as lookouts for many yearsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  16. 1964 BuiltA new storage facility built at the lookout (Forest Lookouts)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  17. 1973 RemovedLookout removed (Register and Forest Lookouts); firelookout.com says destroyed in 1973Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org, firelookout.com
  18. No record between 1973 and 2011
  19. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 11, 2011 as FFLOS US 978, OR 336; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  20. 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.

Monument Peak sits in the Willamette National Forest in Linn County, Oregon, about eight miles west-southwest of Detroit.1 The Forest Lookouts history places an alidade on the peak around 1914, and a lookout house in 1921.2 The Register starts its story with a camp in 1916, which it says had a cabin added in 1921.3

The Linn County Fire Patrol association ran the station in its later years.2 By August 1942 it had completed a new lookout house on the peak, and Charles Graves was to be the first lookout to occupy it.2 The Register describes that cab as built in 1942 on the middle summit.3 Ed Cox and Henry Thompson went up that September to staff the station until the war ended.2

The station was also a wartime AWS post, activated on August 13, 1942, and deactivated on September 22, 1943.2 In 1946 a survey said the 14-by-14 house sat on a concrete base and needed paint.2

Mike Hobson was in charge of the lookout station around 1930.2 Albert Simons and his wife later staffed it through the late 1940s and into the 1950s.2 A 1956 report says they were on duty at the Monument Peak lookout station that year.2

The Forest Lookouts history and the Register both date the removal to 1973.2,3 firelookout.com says the cab was destroyed that year.1 The Register lists the U.S. Forest Service as administrator.3 No source we read describes what, if anything, remains on the peak today, or whether the public can reach it.

  1. Monument Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/monumentpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Monument Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/monument-peak1.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Monument Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/monument-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Monument Peak Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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: 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: 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, access, staffing, 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

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