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Fire lookout · King William County, Virginia

King William County Fire Tower

Also known as King William

King William County, VA tower built 1935 as an 80-ft Aermotor; NHLR-registered 2023, county-administered, listed as standing; no access or staffing details found.

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
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor steel truss tower with a square metal lookout cab, pyramidal roof and open metal staircase inside the trussThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
157 ft (48 m)
Agency
King William County
Land
Unknown
Location
King William County, Virginia
Coordinates
37.68733, −77.01556
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-va-king-william-county

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 3.2 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. 1933 EventKing William fire warden position created, per the 2014 county survey quoted by NHLR; the first fire tower followed shortly afterSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1935 BuiltNHLR: 'This 80-foot Aermotor tower was built in 1935.' Builder not namedSource: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1935 and 2014
  4. 2014 Condition assessment2014 historic survey by King William County, quoted in the NHLR descriptionSource: nhlr.org
  5. 2023 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 31, 2023; nominated by Krissy Reynolds; cooperator King William County Historic Preservation & Architectural Review BoardSource: nhlr.org
  6. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The King William County Fire Tower was built in 1935 and is an 80-foot Aermotor tower.1 A 2014 county historic survey, quoted by the National Historic Lookout Register, says the county's fire warden post was created in 1933 and that the first fire tower went up shortly after.1 The survey describes a tall, tapering metal truss with a square lookout cab under a pyramidal roof. An open metal staircase inside the truss climbs to the cab.1

The sources we read do not name the builder or anyone who staffed the tower, and they do not describe any fires it watched.

The Register lists King William County as the administrator, with the county's Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board as a cooperator.1 The tower was registered on December 31, 2023, on a nomination by Krissy Reynolds.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Virginia list shows it as standing.2

We found no access rules, opening hours or recent condition report. Ask King William County before going to see it, and do not climb the tower unless the owner has said it is open.

  1. King William County Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/va/king-william-county-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Virginia, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/va/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of King William County Fire Tower
Photo: Krissy Reynolds, via 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.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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. 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. 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

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