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Fire lookout · Morgan County, West Virginia

Sleepy Creek Fire Tower

Also known as Sleepy Creek Fire Tower (Removed)

80-ft Aermotor LS-40 WV Division of Forestry tower completed 1950 in Sleepy Creek WMA; sold for scrap and removed; no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Sold for scrap and removed many years ago, per the National Historic Lookout Register; removal date not given

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
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor LS-40 steel towerThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1950
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
1,680 ft (512 m)
Agency
West Virginia Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Morgan County, West Virginia
Coordinates
39.55083, −78.15889
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wv-sleepy-creek

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 3.2 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. 1948 EventOctober 1948 newspaper notice, quoted on Forest Lookouts, announced a fire tower for Sleepy Creek MountainSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1950 BuiltCompleted 1950 per the Register; a February 1950 notice describes the material waiting in a barn and crews getting ready to erect itSources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1950 and 1990
  4. 1990 ClosedWest Virginia forest fire towers were closed statewide in 1990; the source does not name this towerSource: wvencyclopedia.org
  5. No record between 1990 and 2022
  6. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 25, 2022 as US 1702, WV 28; nominated by Brian M. PowellSource: nhlr.org
  7. 2026 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 19, 2026 as US 2129, WV 88; nominated by Jason JohnsSource: firetower.org
  8. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Sleepy Creek fire tower stood in the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area, a state wildlife area that spans Berkeley and Morgan counties.1,2 The sources disagree about the county: the National Historic Lookout Register says Morgan County, while the Forest Lookouts site and the Forest Fire Lookout Association's state list both say Berkeley.2,3,4

In October 1948 a newspaper notice, quoted on Forest Lookouts, said a fire tower would be built on Sleepy Creek Mountain. The notice said the tower would look out over the ground between Third Hill and Sleepy Creek.3 By February 1950 material for the 80-foot tower had been stored in a barn for more than two years, and crews were preparing to erect it.3 The Register describes the tower as an 80-foot Aermotor LS-40 that was completed in 1950, and it lists the site at 1,680 feet (512 meters).2

The Register says the tower was sold as scrap and taken down many years ago.2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's list marks it as gone.4 Statewide, West Virginia closed its forest fire towers in 1990, according to e-WV.5

The Register's entry does not describe the site today, so we cannot say whether footings or other traces are left.2 The land is a state wildlife area,1 but none of the sources says whether the tower spot itself is open to visitors. The Register names the West Virginia Division of Forestry as the administrator, so ask that agency before visiting.2

The Register first listed the tower on December 25, 2022, as US 1702, WV 28.2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register added it on July 19, 2026, as US 2129, WV 88.6

  1. Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Creek_Wildlife_Management_Area (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Sleepy Creek Fire Tower (Removed), National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wv/sleepy-creek-fire-tower-removed/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Sleepy Creek, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/sleepy-creek.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. West Virginia Fire Towers, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wv/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Fire Towers, e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/entries/2115 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Sleepy Creek Fire Tower, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wv/sleepy-creek-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Sleepy Creek Fire Tower
Sleepy Creek Fire TowerPhoto: Ron Stafford Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Sleepy Creek Fire Tower
Sleepy Creek Fire TowerPhoto: Ron Stafford Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: height, 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
  5. 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.