FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Fayette County, West Virginia

Gauley Mountain Tower Site

Gauley Mountain lookout in Fayette County was moved in 2009 to Whittaker Station at Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, where it still stands.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at Cass Scenic RR

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. The original Fayette County tower is listed as gone. The tower now stands at Whittaker Station, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, Pocahontas County.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. NHLR says the tower is accessible by train from Cass. No source found says whether climbing is allowed.

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

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a towerBlaw-Knox towerThe design: Blaw-Knox
Built of
Not recorded
Built
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Elevation
2,539 ft (774 m)
Agency
West Virginia Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Fayette County, West Virginia
Coordinates
38.15250, −81.11500
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wv-gauley-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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1926 EventTelephone connection to the Gauley Mountain Coal Company at AnstedSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1928 RestoredCompletely renovated: new roof, windows, observation-room floor, paintSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1928 StaffedJ.M. Hammond of Ansted named section ranger with headquarters at the towerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1928 and 2009
  5. 2009 MovedMoved to Whittaker Station, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park; Blaw-Knox tower installed October 28, 2009Sources: firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  6. 2009 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "2009".Source: FFLOS register entry
  7. 2017 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOSSource: firetower.org
  8. 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered per NHLR for the Whittaker Station recordSource: nhlr.org
  9. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to Cass Scenic RR.Source: FFLA
  10. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from.

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 Gauley Mountain tower stood in Fayette County, West Virginia.1 The Eastern lookouts page names the state Division of Forestry as the agency.2 I could not find a construction date. By 1926 the tower had a telephone line to a coal company at Ansted, which could pass messages on to the central office in Fayetteville.2

A 1928 Charleston Daily Mail item, quoted on the Eastern lookouts page, named J.M. Hammond of Ansted as section ranger, based at the tower.2 The same item reported a full renovation: a new roof, new windows, a new observation-room floor and fresh paint.2 Hammond is the only named staffer I found.

The tower was moved in 2009.1 The Eastern lookouts page dates the Blaw-Knox tower's installation at Cass Scenic Railroad State Park to October 28, 2009.2 The National Historic Lookout Register dates the move to October 2009 and says it added the tower to a forestry display in the park.3

Today the tower stands at Whittaker Station, a stop on the Cass Scenic Railroad line.3,4 According to the register, the tower can be reached by train from Cass.3 The minutes of the 2013 Eastern conference record that a train conductor said the landowner did not want the tower seen from far off, so it was painted in camouflage to blend in.4 The Eastern lookouts page adds that the tower is meant more for looking at than looking out from.2 I found no source that says whether visitors may climb it. The original Fayette County site is listed as gone,5 and I found nothing that describes what remains there.

  1. Gauley Mountain Tower Site, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wv/gauley-mountain-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Gauley Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts site, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/gauley-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Whittaker Station Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, https://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wv/whittaker-station-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. 2013 Eastern conference minutes, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2013-eastern-minutes.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. West Virginia Fire Towers, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wv/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, dates, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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: 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, status, agency, access, 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.