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Fire lookout · Barron County, Wisconsin

Chetek Lookout

Barron County, WI 100-ft Aermotor tower; register dates it 1951 but late-1953 newspaper items describe a new tower; NHLR-registered 2017; listed gone, no removal date found.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Listed as gone on the Forest Fire Lookout Association's Wisconsin list; no removal date or account found

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower100-foot Aermotor tower with an inside corner ladderThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1951
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
1,329 ft (405 m)
Agency
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Land
Unknown
Location
Barron County, Wisconsin
Coordinates
45.37183, −91.62609
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wi-chetek

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and 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. 1951 BuiltRegister's build date ('built at its current location in 1951'); conflicts with late-1953 newspaper items, see notesSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1953 EventThe November 1953 item describes a new tower under construction for several months and about to open, which conflicts with the register's 1951 build date; the December 1953 item calls it the newest link in the chainSource: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1953 First staffedCarl E. Bram was fire watcher through the fall (December 1953 item); a son of the Brann family was planned to man it (November 1953 item)Source: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1953 and 2017
  5. 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 28, 2017; nominated by Tyler BormannSource: nhlr.org
  6. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Chetek Lookout was a 100-foot Aermotor tower with an inside corner ladder, in Barron County, Wisconsin.1 The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources administered it.1

The National Historic Lookout Register dates the tower to 1951 and says it was built at its current location that year.1 It also suggests the tower may have been moved there from another site in 1951.1

Two newspaper items from late 1953, dated November 29 and December 2 and quoted on the Forest Lookouts site, describe it. The November item calls it a new fire lookout tower that had been under construction for several months and would open soon.2 The December item calls it the newest link in a chain of fire towers.2 The two items also disagree on its place: a mile east of Mud Lake in one, and about five miles north and slightly east of Chetek in the other.2

The November item said the tower would be manned by a son of the Brann family.2 The December item says Carl E. Bram had been its fire watcher through the fall and reported three smokes during the dry weather.2

The register added the tower in 2017, on the nomination of Tyler Bormann.1

The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Wisconsin list marks the tower as gone.3

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains at the site, or whether it is open to visitors.

  1. Chetek Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wi/chetek-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Chetek, Forest Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/chetek.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Wisconsin Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wi/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Photo of Chetek Lookout
Photo: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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

    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, 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. 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, 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.