Union Lookout

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Union Lookout
Union Lookout, Trail of Tears SF.jpg
View from the west in autumn
USA Illinois location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Nearest city Jonesboro, Illinois
Coordinates 37°28′47.5″N89°21′28″W / 37.479861°N 89.35778°W / 37.479861; -89.35778 Coordinates: 37°28′47.5″N89°21′28″W / 37.479861°N 89.35778°W / 37.479861; -89.35778
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1934
ArchitectConrad Fischer
Architectural styleSteel X-brace tower
NRHP reference No. 02001759 [1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 5, 2003

Union Lookout is a lookout tower located within Trail of Tears State Forest in Union County, Illinois, United States. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the tower circa 1934 as part of a network of fire lookout towers in Shawnee National Forest; the fire towers were one of many CCC conservation projects in the forest, which also included planting trees, constructing bridges and trails, and preventing erosion. The tower was used through the 1960s, by which time airplanes had largely replaced towers as a means of detecting fires; it is now the only remaining lookout tower in the forest. [2] On February 5, 2003, Union Lookout was added to the National Register of Historic Places. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Schroeder, Marge (May 13, 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Union Lookout" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved November 1, 2012.