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Fire lookout · Surry County, Virginia

Surry Fire Tower

Also known as Surry (Elberon), Surry County

Aermotor fire tower on VA 31 near Elberon, Surry County, Virginia; NHLR-registered 2026, described as in poor condition, with no build date 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 towerAermotor fire towerThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Elevation
114 ft (35 m)
Agency
State
Land
State land
Location
Surry County, Virginia
Coordinates
37.08014, −76.88121
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-va-surry

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

  1. 1942 StaffedDated December 3, 1942: soldiers from a coast artillery regiment occupied the tower to watch for aircraft and report fires, as a manpower shortage made it impossible to find a towerman that seasonSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1947 StaffedDated June 4, 1947: Ruby Pierce of Elberon served in the towerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1948 StaffedDated March 17, 1948: Gilbert Logan of Elberon appointed lookout watchman for the 1948 fire seasonSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1948 and 2026
  5. 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 2, 2026 as US 1789, VA 47Source: 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 Surry Fire Tower stands along VA 31 near Elberon, an unincorporated community in Surry County, Virginia.1,2,3 Elberon sits 5.1 miles south-southwest of Surry, according to Wikipedia.2

The register calls it an Aermotor fire tower and gives its elevation as 114 feet (35 m).1 Neither the register nor the Forest Lookouts page for the county gives a year of construction, so when the tower was built is unknown.1,4

The Forest Lookouts page prints several 1940s items it credits to the Smithfield Times. In December 1942, one item says soldiers from a coast artillery regiment were posted in the Elberon tower to spot aircraft and report fires, since a manpower shortage made it impossible to find a towerman that season. The arrangement was made with the Virginia Forest Service.4 In June 1947, an item says Ruby Pierce of Elberon served in the tower, and that 96 percent of the county could be seen from it within twelve miles.4 In March 1948, Gilbert Logan was named lookout watchman for that fire season, and the notice gives the tower's height as 100 feet.4 I read these only as transcriptions on that site; I did not check the original newspaper pages.

The register gives a registration date of January 2, 2026, as US 1789 and VA 47, and names Evan Stone as nominator.1 The register rates the tower's condition as poor. It reports that the first flight of steps seems to be missing, while the rest of the structure survives.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists it as standing.3

The sources do not say whether the public may enter the grounds or climb the tower. With the first flight of steps reportedly gone, nobody should try to climb it. Check who manages the land before any visit.

  1. Surry Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/va/surry-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Elberon, Virginia, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elberon,_Virginia (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Virginia Lookouts (Standing), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/va/va-st/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Surry County, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/surry-county.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Surry Fire Tower
Photo: Evan Stone, 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, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: agency, ownership, 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, 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.