Fire lookout · McNairy County, Tennessee
Michie Lookout Tower
McNairy County, TN tower (NHLR US 1758, TN 62), an 80-foot Aermotor LS-40 the NHLR says the state still owns; no build date or staffing found; on a 2014 list of surviving towers.
- Standing
- Access unknown
- Verified
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
- Type
- Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor LS-40 towerThe design: Aermotor LS-40
- Built of
- SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- Unknown
- Height
- 80 ft (24.4 m)
- Elevation
- 622 ft (190 m)
- Agency
- Tennessee Division of Forestry (administrator per NHLR); NHLR says the state still owns the tower
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- McNairy County, Tennessee
- Coordinates
- 35.10052, −88.42560
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-tn-michie
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
- 2014 EventListed among surviving Tennessee fire towers as of March 26, 2014 in the TDF nomination tableSource: npgallery.nps.gov
- 2022 Condition assessmentNHLR site visit logged as 3/5/22Source: nhlr.org
- 2023 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 8, 2023 as US 1758, TN 62Source: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The Michie Lookout Tower stands in McNairy County, Tennessee.1 The National Historic Lookout Register lists it as US 1758, TN 62 and describes an 80-foot Aermotor LS-40.1 The Register gives its elevation as 622 feet (190 meters), while Tennessee Landforms gives 611 feet.1,2 Tennessee Landforms also gives it state forest tower number 8-19, from a 1976 list of towers.2
The Register says the tower is still owned by the state and administered by the Tennessee Division of Forestry.1 A state nomination lists Michie among the towers that survived as of March 26, 2014.3 Tennessee Landforms marks the tower as standing.2 The Register's description ends with a site visit logged as 3/5/22, and the registration itself is dated August 8, 2023.1
The sources we read do not give a construction date, name a builder, or describe any staff or fires connected with the tower.1,3 They also do not say whether the public may visit. Our advice: ask the Division before going, and do not climb the tower.
- Michie Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/michie-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Tennessee Lookout Towers, Tennessee Landforms, https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Tennessee Division of Forestry Fire Lookout Towers multiple property nomination, National Register of Historic Places, https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/64501237.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Photos
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
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) 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
- tnlandforms.us fire lookout towers (Tom Dunigan) -- GA, NC, TN (opens another site) Gave us: type, 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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
- NHLR register entry US 1758 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Tennessee Division of Forestry Fire Lookout Towers multiple property nomination (National Register of Historic Places) (opens another site)
- Michie (tnlandforms.us (Tom Dunigan)) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.