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Fire lookout · Kent County, Rhode Island

Escoheag Tower Site

Escoheag Hill tower, Kent County RI: first built 1934 in Burrillville, moved 1937, rebuilt 1938; cab burned after 2009; registers disagree on what stands.

Status unknown: We do not know yet whether it still stands. Registers disagree. One describes abandoned remains; the 2017 NHLR entry describes a standing tower whose cab was burned after 2009.

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
Status unknown sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot modified Aermotor towerThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
560 ft (171 m)
Agency
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
Land
Unknown
Location
Kent County, Rhode Island
Coordinates
41.61083, −71.77639
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ri-escoheag

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 3.3 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. 1934 BuiltNHLR: first built on an unnamed knoll in George Washington State Forest, Burrillville (the earlier site)Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1937 MovedNHLR says moved in 1937 to Escoheag Hill; Forest Lookouts quotes a 1937 plan to move itSources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1938 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  4. 1938 RebuiltNHLR says reconstructed at its present location; FFLOS says built by the CCC in 1938Sources: firetower.org, nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1938 and 1990
  6. 1990 Last staffedNot an active lookout since around 1990 (NHLR, approximate)Source: nhlr.org
  7. No record between 1990 and 2014
  8. 2014 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterFormer-site register entry, registered September 3, 2014Source: firetower.org
  9. 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterNHLR registration June 9, 2017; nominated by Jack KelleySource: nhlr.org
  10. TodayStatus unknownWe do not know whether it still stands.

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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Escoheag Hill sits in Kent County, Rhode Island, and the two registers that cover it tell its story differently.1,2

The National Historic Lookout Register dates the first tower to 1934, when it stood on an unnamed knoll in Burrillville, inside George Washington State Forest.2 A 1934 entry on the Forest Lookouts site quotes the Department of Agriculture and Conservation's first annual report, which says the federal government funded the tower's construction as a work project.3 The register says the tower was moved in 1937 and rebuilt on its present spot in 1938.2 The former-lookout register instead says the Civilian Conservation Corps built an 80-foot tower here in 1938.1

The register says the tower has been out of service as a lookout since about 1990.2 Sometime after 2009, vandals burned the wooden cab.2 The blaze wrecked most of the top landings and harmed the upper stairs, and charred boards are strewn across the ground near the lookout.2

The two registers disagree about what is left. The former-lookout register mentions abandoned remains on the site.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Rhode Island list shows an Escoheag Hill tower as standing, with an asterisk meaning its structure remains but its cab is gone.4 The two also give different coordinates, so it is not clear that they describe the same structure.1,2

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management administers the site, according to the register.2 The register says the tower is currently unmaintained.2 We would not encourage anyone to climb it. We found no source saying whether the site is open to the public.

  1. Escoheag Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ri/escoheag-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Escoheag Hill Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ri/escoheag-hill-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. George Washington, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/george-washington.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Rhode Island Fire Towers, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ri/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

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 whether it still stands.

    • Firefinder research: Status unknown
    • FFLOS: Gone

    Research (2026-10-10) gives unknown where the source records give gone. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, status, register numbers, agency, dates, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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

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