{"nrhp_refnum":"02001759","name":"Union Lookout","other_names":["Trail of Tears Lookout","Union Tower"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"3/4 mi. S of Jct. Co. Rd. 13 and Trail of Tears State Forest Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Jonesboro","county":"Union County","state":"IL","lat":37.48063915400007,"lon":-89.35808607999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Conservation","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 100-foot open-frame, X-brace galvanized-steel fire tower on a forested hilltop in the southern part of Trail of Tears State Forest, near Jonesboro, Union County, Illinois. The Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1934 or 1935.","why_significant":"The tower is locally significant under Criterion A for its link to the Civilian Conservation Corps and to reforestation and conservation work in the Shawnee Forest region. It is described as the only documented CCC fire tower of original height left in Illinois. It was part of a network of eight towers used to pinpoint wildfires through compass cross-readings.","narrative":"Rising 100 feet above a wooded ridge in Trail of Tears State Forest, this galvanized-steel fire tower was put up by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934 or 1935. It has nine levels, a 16-by-16-foot footprint, and a small enclosed cab on top. Forester Conrad Fischer, assigned to Jonesboro in 1934, is credited with designing it. Together with several other towers, it supplied compass readings that let fire crews locate the origin of a wildfire on a topographic map. Foresters used it seasonally during dangerous fire conditions, and state personnel kept using it into the late 1960s. The tower is considered the only documented CCC fire tower of original height remaining in Illinois, and the last intact lookout in the Greater Shawnee region. Its setting remains remote and rural. It was listed for its connection to the CCC and to conservation efforts in southern Illinois, where worn-out farmland and repeated logging had left the forests in need of recovery.","period_of_significance":"circa 1934-1952","architect_builder":"Conrad Fischer, Forester, U.S. Forest Service","architectural_style":"Other: steel X-brace tower","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Structural evaluation in 2000 found it in generally fair to good condition. The lowest stairs and the treads of the second flight were removed to discourage trespassing, and the cab windows are broken and the equipment gone.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.193299-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/8942/28894213/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/02001759.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001759/5f026dc54c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001759/5f026dc54c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Lookout,_Trail_of_Tears_SF.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Lookout,_Trail_of_Tears_SF.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894213","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Lookout","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14688142"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/union-county/union-lookout-02001759/"}