BlockFrom the record
One of 19 National Register listings published here for Siskiyou County · listed in 2017 · category: Building · built in 1940, National Park Service rustic.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Schonchin Butte Fire Lookout
Built in 1940 (National Park Service rustic). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. 12 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. Lava Beds NM, Tulelake
- When was it listed? September 2017
- Category. building
- Also known as. Historic Park Landscapes in National and State Parks MPS
- Census division. Tulelake
- When was it built? 1940
- Architectural style. National Park Service rustic
- National Register reference number. 100001559 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Fires near this property
101 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 101 fires within 5 miles of Schonchin Butte Fire Lookout between 1992 and 2020, burning about 83,886 acres in total. 87 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 87 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Lava Beds National Monument | CALDWELL |
| 5 September 2003 | Natural | 554 acres | Modoc National Forest | YELLOW |
| 4 September 2015 | Natural | under an acre | Modoc National Forest | VALENTINE SOUTH |
| 4 September 2015 | Natural | under an acre | Lava Beds National Monument | VALENTINE |
| 4 September 2015 | Natural | under an acre | Modoc National Forest | SAND |
| 4 September 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Lava Beds National Monument | TOUR BUS |
| 29 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lava Beds National Monument | INDIAN WELLS |
| 28 September 2004 | Natural | under an acre | Lava Beds National Monument | BNP764 |
Mines and quarries near this property
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Schonchin Butte Fire Lookout: 2 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unidentified Cinder Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Unidentified Location | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown |
Storms near this property
2 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tulelake, the town this property stands in, in 2 storm reports between 1997 and 2002: 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
Maps showing this location
12 surveysUnited States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
- 1886 USGS Modoc Lava Bed quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Modoc Lava Bed quadrangle1:250000 - 6 printings
- 1892 USGS Modoc Lava-Bed quadrangle1:250000
- 1952 USGS Medicine Lake quadrangle1:62500 - 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000 - 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Medicine Lake NE quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Tulelake quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings
- 1988 USGS Schonchin Butte quadrangle1:24000
- 1993 USGS Schonchin Butte quadrangle1:24000
Listed places nearby
3 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas-Wright Battle Site | 2.2 miles | 1978 | |
 | Captain Jack's Stronghold | 5.9 miles | 1973 |
| Hospital Rock Army Camp Site | 6.8 miles | 1973 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100001559 in Record Group 79. |
| Siskiyou County | All 19 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.