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Fire lookout · Stevens County, Washington

Graves Mountain Lookout

Graves Mountain, WA: 1934 pole tower and cabin, replaced in 1955 by an L-4 cab; the cab was moved to Colville in 1985 and restored, and the mountain site has no tower.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at the Colville Museum

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Tower removed from Graves Mountain in 1985 and moved to Colville; the sources read do not describe what remains on the mountain today

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Restored cab in Colville: register says open to the public daily; firelookout.com says open for summer tours; a regional listing gives the museum season as May 1 to September 30. Mountain site has no tower and no access described.

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

Facts

Status
Moved sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerOriginal 1934 pole tower of 72 feet with an accompanying log cabin for living quarters; 1955 replacement 30-foot timber tower with an L-4 cabThe designs: L-4, L-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
5,901 ft (1,799 m)
Agency
Stevens County Historical Society (administers the restored cab); U.S. Forest Service built and replaced the lookout
Land
Federal land
Location
Stevens County, Washington
Coordinates
48.63710, −118.35886
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-graves-mountain

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 4.3 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. 1934 Built72-foot pole tower with log cabin built on the mountain by the Forest Service and CCC; the historical society says early 1930sSources: nhlr.org, stevenscountyhistoricalsociety.org, firetower.org
  2. 1944 StaffedA couple manned the lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1955 Replaced by a new structurePole tower replaced by a 30-foot timber tower with an L-4 cabSources: nhlr.org, stevenscountyhistoricalsociety.org, firetower.org
  4. 1955 StaffedFirst year in the firelookout.com personnel list; the list does not say when staffing endedSource: firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1955 and 1985
  6. 1985 MovedStevens County Historical Society moved the tower and cab, piece by piece, to Colville; the tower was removed from the mountainSources: nhlr.org, firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1999 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 1, 1999 as US 315, WA 31Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterMountain site registered November 17, 2012 as US 1449, WA 349Source: firetower.org
  9. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to the Colville Museum.Source: FFLA
  10. 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.

Graves Mountain, in Ferry County, Washington, had a lookout built in 1934: a 72-foot pole tower with an accompanying log cabin for living quarters.1,2 The register says the Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps built it.2 The historical society places the station in the Colville National Forest and dates its construction to the early 1930s.3

Sources disagree on the height. The register and a former-lookout site record give 72 feet, the historical society says 75, and another history page says 72, possibly 80.2,1,3,4

A couple manned the lookout in 1944.4 In 1955 the Forest Service replaced the pole tower with a 30-foot timber tower and an L-4 cab.2,1,4 The historical society gives the new cab's size as 14 by 14 feet.3 A published list of lookout personnel starts in 1955 but does not say when staffing ended.5 The register says the L-4 cab stood for 30 years, while the historical society says the station worked for almost 50 years.2,3 The pages we read name no notable fires.

In 1985 the Stevens County Historical Society moved the lookout, piece by piece, off the mountain.2 The register says it went to the Stevens County Park and Museum. Other pages place it next to the Keller Historical Museum, on a small hill above Colville.2,1,4

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains on Graves Mountain today. The tower itself was removed in 1985.1

The register calls the restored cab open to the public daily.2 A lookout history page says it is open for tours during the summer,5 and a regional events listing says the museum opens May 1 to September 30.6 The accounts differ, and none says whether visitors may climb. If that season holds, the museum is closed now, so call ahead.6

  1. Graves Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/graves-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Graves Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/graves-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Graves Mountain Lookout Tower, Stevens County Historical Society, http://stevenscountyhistoricalsociety.org/lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Graves Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/graves_mountain/lookout_179.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Graves Mountain Lookout, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/graves.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Stevens County Historical Museum Opens, Selkirk Loop events listing, https://selkirkloop.org/?p=2757 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Graves Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Graves Mountain Lookout
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1934
1934 (1934)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout at the Colville Museum
Lookout at the Colville MuseumPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. firelookout.com lists it, but not on its map of standing lookouts.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: what it is built of, register numbers, ownership, 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
  3. 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
  4. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, staffing, 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

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