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Fire lookout · Marion County, Texas

Jefferson Lookout Site

Also known as Jefferson (Loc 1)

Marion County, TX tower: Texas Forest Service crew base in 1957; moved downtown in 2003 and now a privately owned Etex Wireless cell tower.

Private land

No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. Owned by Etex Wireless and used as a cell tower. The register says local groups are offering to help open it, but we found no report that this has happened.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at Jefferson (Loc 2)

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. No longer at the original site; the tower stands downtown in Jefferson as a cell tower

Visit & stay

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

Access

Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a tower100-foot Aermotor MC-39 tower with 7-by-7-foot cabThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Not recorded
Built
Unknown
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
318 ft (97 m)
Agency
Etex Wireless (current owner and administrator per the register); the Texas Forest Service staffed the tower in 1957
Land
Unknown
Location
Marion County, Texas
Coordinates
32.76609, −94.37769
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tx-jefferson

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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at its recorded height.

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

  1. 1957 StaffedA new Texas Forest Service crew leader joined at the Jefferson lookout tower, per a Marshall News Messenger item dated September 30, 1957, quoted by the Central US pageSource: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1958 EventCoast and Geodetic Survey station description written, placing the tower about 1.5 miles west-northwest of Jefferson, with an overall height of about 100 feetSource: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1958 and 2003
  4. 2003 MovedMoved by the Jeffersonian Institute to its present location in downtown JeffersonSources: firetower.org, firelookout.org
  5. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites registerSource: firetower.org
  6. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to Jefferson (Loc 2).Source: FFLA
  7. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

The Jefferson lookout tower first stood in Marion County, Texas, about 1.5 miles west-northwest of the town of Jefferson.1,2 A 1958 Coast and Geodetic Survey station description, reproduced on a Central US lookout page, describes a glass-walled cab on a four-legged steel frame, roughly 100 feet tall overall and painted gray.2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register describes the tower as a 100-foot Aermotor MC-39 with a 7-by-7-foot cab.1 We did not find when it was built.

In September 1957 a new crew leader joined the Texas Forest Service at the Jefferson lookout tower.2 A Marshall News Messenger item dated September 30, 1957, quoted on the Central US page, says his district covers about 150,000 acres.2 We found no fire the tower is known to have watched.

In 2003 the Jeffersonian Institute moved the tower to downtown Jefferson, according to the register.1 The Texas lookout list shows the original site as gone, and a relocated tower at the new spot as standing.3

Today the tower stands downtown and is owned by Etex Wireless, which uses it as a cell tower.1 The register says the Jefferson Office of Tourism Development and the Marion County Chamber of Commerce are offering to help the company repair the steps and open the tower as a site for local history and education.1 We found no report that this has happened, and no source says the public can climb it. Please do not climb it, and check with the owner before you visit.

  1. Jefferson Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/tx/jefferson-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Jefferson - Forest Lookouts, Central US lookout list, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/jefferson.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Texas lookout list, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/tx/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Jefferson Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: links centraluslookouts.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, status, agency, access, 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.