FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lawrence County, Tennessee

West Point Lookout Tower

Tennessee Division of Forestry tower in Lawrence County, registered 2023 as an 80-foot Aeromotor LS-40; a regional list marks it removed, so current status is disputed.

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
Trail
Tucked back in the woods, a short walk from the road (Register visit note, 2023)
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot Aeromotor LS-40The 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
954 ft (291 m)
Agency
Tennessee Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Lawrence County, Tennessee
Coordinates
35.09993, −87.56054
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tn-west-point

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 3.1 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. 1955 EventState bought twelve 80-foot steel towers; one was to be erected at this site by early winter (News-Democrat item dated October 7, 1955). Construction date not confirmed.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1955 and 2023
  3. 2023 Condition assessmentRegister site visit recorded as November 25, 2023Source: nhlr.org
  4. 2023 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 16, 2023 as US 1769, TN 71Source: nhlr.org
  5. 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 Tennessee Division of Forestry is the agency the Register lists for the West Point Lookout Tower in Lawrence County.1 A News-Democrat item dated October 7, 1955, reprinted on a lookout-history site, says the state had bought twelve 80-foot steel towers and that one was to go up at this place by early winter.2 I found no source that confirms when it was actually built.

The Register describes the tower as an 80-foot Aeromotor LS-40, a design the Division used widely until the mid-1970s.1,3 The Register records a site visit on November 25, 2023, and its visit note describes the tower as tucked back in the woods, a short walk from the road.1 The Register gives December 16, 2023 as the date it registered the tower, with registry numbers US 1769, TN 71.1

The sources disagree about whether it still stands.1,4 The Register lists the tower with its 2023 visit and records no removal.1 Tennessee Landforms, however, lists the Westpoint tower as removed, with no year given.4 I could not settle which account is current.

I found no sources on who staffed the tower or which fires it watched. I also found no current rule on whether the public may visit or climb it. Check with the Division of Forestry before going, and do not climb any tower without permission.

  1. West Point Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/west-point-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Westpoint, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/westpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Tennessee Division of Forestry Fire Lookout Towers, 1933 to 1975, National Register multiple property document (npgallery.nps.gov), https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/64501237.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Tennessee Lookout Towers, Tennessee Landforms (tnlandforms.us), https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of West Point Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of West Point Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of West Point Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of West Point Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of West Point Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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 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, 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: height, 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, 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.