Lookout Site Regions: Origin Site ~ Mt. Rainier, Re-Lo Site ~ Unknown
The move of the L-7 cab of the 1st National Lookout is not a typical TYPE 1 Re-Location. The cab was apparently retained by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and displayed at several Washington Fairs. It is not known if it still exists. Its location is unknown if it still exists.
The 1st National Lookout was built in 1936 by the State Department of Forestry (now the DNR). The National Lookout description in Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page (firelookout.com) is typical of most of the lookout references: “The 60′ wooden tower with 8×8′ cab, constructed in 1936, was replaced in 1965 with a 40′ wooden DNR live-in tower, which was abruptly destroyed in 1969.” The saving and re-location of the 1936 cab is not mentioned. (The cab is described as an 8’x8’ cab by some references and as a 7’x7’ L-7 cab by others.)
A newspaper article in the August 14, 1965 issue of Centralia’s The Daily Chronicle included a number of images of the removal of the 1936 National Lookout. This issue also included the following article.
According to this article, the first move of the Re-Located National Lookout cab was to the Southwest WA Fairgrounds near Centralia where it was to be displayed at the 1965 Fair. An editorial which appeared in The Daily Chronicle three days later seems to verify this move and display. In part, the editorial says: “Fair-goers should not miss some special displays and demonstrations to be on the grounds this week…..Those who take time to see the logging equipment, the forest fire lookout tower and other displays will find them interesting and worthwhile.”
However, it is doubtful if the move to become a “permanent display at “Camp 6”, an historical logging museum in Tacoma” described in August 14, 1965 Daily Chronicle article ever happened. The Camp 6 Logging Exhibit was established in 1964 to “ look and feel like a logging operation with an operating railroad connecting the working sites (“sides” or “shows”) with the bunk houses and bunk cars of the camp” (From the Camp 6 website). Camp 6 was permanently closed in 2010 and its estimated 700 tons of old Rail and Logging equipment were then removed to other museums in Washington, Oregon and California during 2011 and 2012. There are many photos and descriptions of the exhibits at Camp 6 and some of the follow-up museums that can be seen on the web. I found no evidence of a fire lookout in my search through many of these.
After spending much time following the Camp 6 path in an attempt to find the possible location of the National cab, I asked for help from a group of avid lookout chasers. I asked the following questions in a May, 2021 Post on the Private Facebook Group Fire Lookouts of Washington: Does the 1936 National Lookout still exist and if so, where is it? Can any of the experienced “Lookout Chasers” out there, help answer these questions? Have you seen the 1936 National Lookout cab displayed anywhere along its apparent multi-step route? Do you know anyone that might have more information?
Ray Kresek, author of Fire Lookouts of the Northwest and acknowledged Guru of the Pacific Northwest’s fire lookout information, quickly answered with the following: ”The 1936 7×7′ L-7 cab from National LO was still sitting just inside the DNR Lacey compound on Marvin Road E of Lacey when I last saw it in 1985. DNR engineers confirmed it had been on display at fairs after being removed from the mountain in 1965, but did not say anything about it ever going to Camp 6. I doubt if it did. It had been sitting in that spot at the compound for a long time intact, but decaying. I suspect it got destroyed with the rest of the compound when DNR moved to the Oly airport.”
Ray’s answer confirmed my conclusion that it was highly unlikely that the National cab had ever been at Camp 6. If it was ever displayed at Camp 6, it was only temporary and not permanent as Ray saw it at Lacey in 1985 which was nearly 25 years before Camp 6 shut down. It now seems that the DNR kept the 1936 National LO cab and only loaned it out for display at Washington fairs. At the present time, Ray’s 1985 sighting at DNR’s Lacey Compound is the last reported location. The DNR moved their storage compound from Lacey to Tumwater around 2003-2004. A shopping center was then built on the Lacey property. We have not determined yet if the cab was moved from Lacey when DNR moved out. So, we still don’t know if it still exists and where it is located if it does exist. The investigation continues.
The 1936 National Lookout comes down and the cab is readied to make its first move to the SW WA Fair.
Our visit to the National LO RE-LO Site.
It is not known if the National 1963 cab still exists and if it does the current location is unknown. Further investigation is ongoing and we plan to visit the Re-Lo Site if it is found.
Our visit to the National Lookout Origin site ~ 7/8/2021
Peggy and I visited the abandoned National Lookout site by way of an 8.2 mile/1050’ elevation gain gated road walk. Lookout locations are normally picked because of their great views over the surrounding forested lands. The views were often gained by cutting the trees around the site and adding elevation with a tower. View seekers find that the views no longer exist at many abandoned lookout sites as trees have grown back and the towers are gone. That was the case with the National Lookout Site.
While we could see no views from the site, we began to see some lookout artifacts.
A previous lookout chaser had spotted more artifacts at the site. We were not so lucky. (Photos from Eric Willhite collection.)
The only views that we had were occasional openings through, or above, trees as we walked along the access road.
