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Fire lookout · Dickson County, Tennessee

Burns (Bell) Lookout Tower

Also known as Bell

Early-1950s steel MC-39 fire tower at Montgomery Bell State Park, Dickson County; unstaffed since the mid-1970s; NHLR-registered 2023.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. On the grounds of the Highland Rim district headquarters inside Montgomery Bell State Park. Normally open on weekdays during business hours and closed on weekends, per the register; closed for storm cleanup at a February 2023 visit.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2023)

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerSteel International Derrick MC-39 tower, about 80 feet tall, with steel stair treads and wood landingsThe designs: Aermotor MC-39, IDECO
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1950
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
868 ft (265 m)
Agency
Tennessee Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Dickson County, Tennessee
Coordinates
36.06444, −87.28276
Registers
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tn-burns-bell

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. 1950 BuiltThe register says only early 1950s; 1950 is the start of that rangeSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1950 and 1975
  3. 1975 Last staffedLast used for fire detection in the mid-1970s, per the district forester; no exact year givenSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1975 and 2023
  5. 2023 Condition assessmentVisit report dated February 13, 2023 describes condition, staffing and accessSource: nhlr.org
  6. 2023 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 31, 2023 as US 1778, TN 74Source: nhlr.org
  7. 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Burns (Bell) tower was built in the early 1950s by the Tennessee Division of Forestry to spot fires in Dickson County and the land around it.1 The register calls it a steel International Derrick MC-39, and a federal nomination covering the Tennessee Division of Forestry's fire lookout towers from 1933 to 1975 says the MC-39 and the International Derrick 1933 model were nearly identical in design.1,2 The register puts its height at about 80 feet, with steel stair treads.1

The sources we read describe no particular fires it watched. A district forester told a visitor in February 2023 that the tower is not staffed anymore and was last used for fire detection in the mid-1970s. He also said there was no money in the budget for maintaining it.1

The same visit described the steel tower as overall in decent shape, with several cab windows missing and the wood landings deteriorating.1 A Tennessee Landforms list of lookout towers, however, marks the Bell tower as removed, so the two sources disagree.3 The register added the tower on December 31, 2023, as US 1778, TN 74.1

At the February 2023 visit, the tower was on the grounds of the Highland Rim district headquarters of the state forestry division, inside Montgomery Bell State Park.1 The register says the site is normally open on weekdays during business hours and closed on weekends.1 It was shut at the time of the visit for storm cleanup.1 A sign at the tower says it can be climbed at the user's risk, but the forester advised against climbing because of the deteriorated landings.1 The newest source we found is from 2023, so check with the division before planning a visit.

  1. Burns (Bell) Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/burns-bell-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Tennessee Division of Forestry Fire Lookout Towers, 1933 to 1975, National Register multiple property document, National Park Service NPGallery, https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/64501237.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Tennessee Lookout Towers, Tennessee Landforms (tnlandforms.us), https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Burns (Bell) Lookout Tower
Photo: Jerry Lutes, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
February 2023 photo
February 2023 photo (2023)Photo: Jerry Lutes, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

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  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • NHLR: Standing
    • tnlandforms.us fire lookout towers (Tom Dunigan) -- GA, NC, TN: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

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. tnlandforms.us fire lookout towers (Tom Dunigan) -- GA, NC, TN Gave us: type, register numbers, links tnlandforms.us (Tom Dunigan) · No licence stated; facts only (coordinates, county, elevation, NGS/GFC/BLL register cross-references, status where given). · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: links easternuslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, access, staffing, 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.