Old Fire Towers

Archeodeb

Archeodeb

Full Member
Nov 3, 2012
163
82
SW Missouri
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have been trying to find out about an old fire tower that used to be (may still be) located on a hill somewhere near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I thought it would be a snap to go online and search out some sort of database that would show current and historic fire towers (especially those on government land) but NOOOOO. I can't seem to find anything useful. I found something very interesting near one of those towers when I was about 19 (a million years ago) that I could not interpret at the time, and now I think I would like to go back and have a new look at it. Only problem is I have no idea which hill it was on except there was a fire tower on top of it. Considering that Missouri has, or had, a fire tower on just about every hill in the state, and that most of them were dismantled about 20 years or so ago when modern fire-spotting methods made them obsolete, it may be like finding a needle in a haystack without some sort of clues.

So... anyone know where I can find a database of active and inactive Missouri fire towers? (Fingers crossed you do.) Thanks!
 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!
Right after posting this I tried a different search and found this... Forest Fire Lookout Association - Home. I don't know if this qualifies as a jackpot but I will give it my attention. Would still appreciate what others know on the subject -- especially if you know the Cape Girardeau area. Thanks!
 

Archeodeb said:
Right after posting this I tried a different search and found this... Forest Fire Lookout Association - Home. I don't know if this qualifies as a jackpot but I will give it my attention. Would still appreciate what others know on the subject -- especially if you know the Cape Girardeau area. Thanks!
Click to expand...


I found this list of Missouri lookout towers from the link you posted, maybe you have already found this, good luck interpreting this information, maybe someone else will knwo how to read this and determine an actual location.



http://www.ebandflo.org/MOTowers/index.htm
 

Last edited:
Thanks AU seeker! I am working my way through the website trying to see what I can find. I know Bollinger, Ste Genevieve and St. Francois counties are all in the vicinity, but Cape is in Cape Girardeau CO. and I am not seeing anything there. Weird. I did find the Hilda tower info though. That one (T03) is about half mile through the woods from my place. We walk our dogs up there nearly every day. Nothing left but 4 concrete piers and an old washed out road leading to it. The other towers in Taney Co. are within sight from the top of our hill (at least their locations are.) I have been up in the one over in Hercules Glade -- it is one of the few still standing and useable, but it is like riding a roller coaster when you're at the top. Scarey! The numbers at the end of the list are, I believe, Geological Survey maps. Maybe I can try looking some of these coordinates up on their website or Google Earth. I will let you know if I find the one I am looking for. Thanks!
 

I'm going to edit the above post becasue of the copy and paste is so large, the info is at the link so it would be better to view it there.

If the tower you're looking for was south of the city of Cape Girardeau it could be in Scott county and there is one listed there that is "gone", it's the 22nd one or so from the bottom of the list.

If you look at the numbers below these headings/columns, "Twn" "Rng" "Sec" , they're from TOPO maps, they stand for Town, Range and Section, so if you look at a TOPO map using these numbers it should show you the locations of the towers.




 

Last edited:
There are quite a few resources online where you can view, download and print free Topo Maps, especially older Topo Maps which you probably need for the search. Any for that area that were published 20 years or more back in time, should show all of the Fire Towers that were still standing.


Frank
 

AU Seeker said:
I'm going to edit the above post becasue of the copy and paste is so large, the info is at the link so it would be better to view it there.

If the tower you're looking for was south of the city of Cape Girardeau it could be in Scott county and there is one listed there that is "gone", it's the 22nd one or so from the bottom of the list.

If you look at the numbers below these headings/columns, "Twn" "Rng" "Sec" , they're from TOPO maps, they stand for Town, Range and Section, so if you look at a TOPO map using these numbers it should show you the locations of the towers.
Click to expand...

I kept wondering why I had to scroll across to read my own post. I thought I must have hit a wrong button until I realized that the list was humongous! :laughing7:

I was thinking about Scott county myself. It has been such a lot of years since I was over that way, I don't really remember how far I was from Cape. As for those numbers -- I do know about topo maps. I have written a lot of legal descriptions for my own lands and back in my college geology days, we had to be able to accurately read descriptions to find whatever arbitrary markers the professor put on the test each week. At first they were easy, but toward the end, he had us reading (and writing) descriptions for plots no bigger than half a football field on a map that covered hundreds of miles. I was good at it then, but I'm a bit rusty now. I was actually referring to the numbers at the end that started with a G. I'm guessing those are Geological Survey maps. I am using Google Earth to track down the locations now. I'm trying to narrow it down to a few possibilities so I don't spend the next 50 years looking for the right one. It has been way too many years for things to look exactly the same, so even if I get to the right hill and tower, I may not recognize it.

Thanks for the help guys!
 

If you locate the general area where the Fire Tower was located, you will have to obtain a download or print of older Historical USGS Topographical Maps from when you visited the site or before. The USGS has been updating and revising all of the Topographical Maps for which they are responsible based on new satelitte images, new GPS, and I believe even Ground Penetrating Radar. Therefore, most of these updated and/or revised Maps will not show Fire Towers that were torn down and removed from the many mountain, higher ridge and higher hill locations within the past 5 years or so or before.


Frank
 

I think I have it! I don't know why I didn't remember this before (like I said I was only 19 when I went there, so I wasn't thinking then the same way I do now), but anyway, looking through the list I saw the name Grassy Mountain. I kept thinking that sounded familiar, but it showed as being in Iron Co. and I was fairly sure I had gone south from Cape. Then I suddenly remembered my dad talking about Little Grassy Mountain that day. My parents were looking for a piece of land they were thinking about buying, and my dad mentioned it was near a fire tower on Little Grassy Mountain. That's why we were there. I looked for a "little" Grassy Mountain, but either it has been renamed or that was only a local reference, because this one in Iron Co. and a place just called Grassy over in Bollinger Co. are the only ones shown on the list. I went to Google Earth and found it. Turns out it is only about 72 miles from Cape Girardeau -- well within the distance I remember traveling that day -- AND on the satellite photo, there is a huge rock outcrop that is pretty much exactly as I remember one that was just below the old tower site. If this is the same place -- and I think it is -- there should be an old trail (just a deer trail, I think, at this point though it may have been something else originally) nearby. THAT is what I am looking for because along that trail, very near the rock outcropping, I found a large boulder, covered in lichens, with some rather strange markings on it. I have only my memory of them to go on (and knew ZERO about that sort of thing at the time) but I believe they may have been petroglyphs. The location of the boulder on the trail and near the rock outcropping (which commands an incredible panoramic view of a valley) leads me to think it may have been a Native American directional marker of some sort. I would really like to take another look at that rock! I don't know when I can get the time, but it has bugged me for too many years not to make a weekend trip out of it at least! I just wish the "public" Google Earth would keep its clear resolution closer to the ground. I know the government could read a newspaper setting on that rock, but they won't let us. Oh well, that's what legs are for I guess!
 

The info au seeker listed shows Township, Range, Section. Township North, Range West. Each Township has 36 sections (or is supposed to). I would guess if you can come up with the county you can match tower. A section is a mile square. Get it down to that section and look for the highest hill. Good luck.
 

Archeodeb
If you go to the U.S. Geological Service web site and look for their aerial maps, they may have that area photographed as far back as the late 1930's or early 1940's. Good luck with your quest. Lab Rat Pappy
 

Lab Rat Pappy said:
Archeodeb
If you go to the U.S. Geological Service web site and look for their aerial maps, they may have that area photographed as far back as the late 1930's or early 1940's. Good luck with your quest. Lab Rat Pappy
Click to expand...

I will do that, thanks!
 

Google "Firetowers" and the name of the county your in. Also, I think someone already stated,
call the fire department in your area and see if they can give you some leads. AND last but
not least, don't under estimate your local library or State library. They usually have a room
dedicated to your local state and county.
Dirtfisher23
 

Archeodeb said:
I have been trying to find out about an old fire tower that used to be (may still be) located on a hill somewhere near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I thought it would be a snap to go online and search out some sort of database that would show current and historic fire towers (especially those on government land) but NOOOOO. I can't seem to find anything useful. I found something very interesting near one of those towers when I was about 19 (a million years ago) that I could not interpret at the time, and now I think I would like to go back and have a new look at it. Only problem is I have no idea which hill it was on except there was a fire tower on top of it. Considering that Missouri has, or had, a fire tower on just about every hill in the state, and that most of them were dismantled about 20 years or so ago when modern fire-spotting methods made them obsolete, it may be like finding a needle in a haystack without some sort of clues.

So... anyone know where I can find a database of active and inactive Missouri fire towers? (Fingers crossed you do.) Thanks!
Click to expand...
This is goingto sound really crazy but thats Rush Limbaugh's home town send him an email he might know seriously or contact a local Vol fire department in that area
 

Citiboy289 said:
This is goingto sound really crazy but thats Rush Limbaugh's home town send him an email he might know seriously or contact a local Vol fire department in that area
Click to expand...

This is going to sound crazier, but Rush Limbaugh is my 3rd cousin on my mom's side of the family. All of the Bollingers, Limbaughs, Killians and a bunch of other ancestors lived in that area between Cape and Marble Hill since before it was a state. My grandpa's dad was Philip Killian. He married Katherine Limbaugh, Rush's great-aunt. (At least I think that is the correct genealogy. I need to get out the old family tree. I trace my family in the USA back to the 1500's so there are a lot of them to keep track of.) I have both my parents' families traced partially all the way to the mid 1400s, in Canton-Bern Switzerland, but it's hard to go much further when most people couldn't even write back in the dark ages.

Oh, and... I think I have found the tower already, however you guys are giving me so many fun links to follow up that I am having a ball just looking at all the sites and old maps. Thanks a lot! Now I will never get any work done! :laughing7:
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Internet radio Metal dectecting show.

⬅️ Previous Thread

Thought I would turn around the "What is it" forum

Next Thread ➡️

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Latest Discussions

Back
Top