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Fire lookout · Vilas County, Wisconsin

Phelps Military Hill Veterans Lookout Tower

Also known as Military Hill (Phelps), Military Hill

1936 Aermotor MC-39 lookout on Military Hill in Vilas County, Wisconsin; use ended 1960, donated to the Town of Phelps in 1978; NHLR-registered 2014; listed standing.

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 MC-39 tower; 120 ft including a 10-ft cab, 132 ft to roof peak; 153 stepsThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1936
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,862 ft (568 m)
Agency
Town of Phelps
Land
Unknown
Location
Vilas County, Wisconsin
Coordinates
46.06670, −89.07798
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wi-phelps-military-hill-veterans

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 4.2 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. 1936 BuiltNHLR build year; one of 38 Depression-era towers in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National ForestSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1936 and 1960
  3. 1960 Last staffedNHLR says use of the tower ended in 1960; it does not describe staffingSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1960 and 1978
  5. 1978 EventLowell Buell purchased the tower from the U.S. Forest Service and donated it to the Town of Phelps; NHLR says the donation was completed April 11, 1978Source: nhlr.org
  6. No record between 1978 and 2014
  7. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 16, 2014 as US 1055, WI 5Source: nhlr.org
  8. 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 tower on Military Hill sits in Vilas County, Wisconsin, and the Town of Phelps is listed as its administrator.1 The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as an Aermotor MC-39 tower. The Register gives a height of 120 feet including a 10-foot cab, and a total of 132 feet to the peak of the roof. It also says the tower has 153 steps.1

The Register says the tower was built in 1936, one of 38 Depression-era towers put up across the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.1 Use of the tower ended in 1960.1 The Register does not say whether it was staffed in those last years, and I found no readable source that names its lookouts or the fires it reported.

In 1978 Lowell Buell contacted the U.S. Forest Service about buying the tower. The Register says he bought it, stated a wish to give it to the Town of Phelps, and completed that donation on April 11, 1978.1

The Register lists the tower as US 1055, WI 5, registered on December 16, 2014, at an elevation of 1,862 feet.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's statewide list shows it as standing.2

I could not find a readable source on current public access, climbing or any rental arrangement. Before planning a visit, check with the Town of Phelps, and do not climb the tower without its permission.

  1. Phelps Military Hill Veterans Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wi/phelps-military-hill-veterans-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Wisconsin Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wi/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Phelps Military Hill Veterans Lookout Tower
Photo: Eugene McCaslin, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
September 2023 photo
September 2023 photo (2023)Photo: Mitchell Moore, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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, 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

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