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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Wisconsin

Pattison Lookout

Douglas County, WI: a 100-foot tower built in 1934 and listed by the register; the Forest Fire Lookout Association now lists it as gone.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Listed as gone by the Forest Fire Lookout Association, while the register describes it in the present tense. No source describes the site today.

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 tower with a US Forest Service-style stairwayThe design: McClintic-Marshall
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,216 ft (371 m)
Agency
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Land
Unknown
Location
Douglas County, Wisconsin
Coordinates
46.51393, −92.13041
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wi-pattison

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.3 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 BuiltRegister says manufactured by McClintock-Marshall Steel CompanySource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1934 and 2017
  3. 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 28, 2017Source: nhlr.org
  4. 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 register describes the Pattison Lookout as a 100-foot tower with a stairway in the US Forest Service style. It names McClintock-Marshall Steel Company, a Bethlehem Steel subsidiary, as the manufacturer and gives 1934 as the build year.1 The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources administered it.1 The register lists the lookout as US 1241, WI 36 and gives its elevation as 1,216 feet (371 m).1

The register recorded the lookout on August 28, 2017.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the Douglas County tower as gone.2 The register's description uses the present tense, which does not match that list.1,2

No source describes what, if anything, remains at the site today.

  1. Pattison Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wi/pattison-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Wisconsin Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wi/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Photo of Pattison Lookout
Photo: Brian Ziegler, 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.

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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.