Union Lookout

Built in 1934. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

From the record

“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.”
Wikipedia article Union Lookout, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 6 National Register listings published here for Union County · listed in 2003 · category: Structure · built in 1934.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
Address. 3/4 mi. S of Jct. Co. Rd. 13 and Trail of Tears State Forest Rd., Jonesboro, 62952
When was it listed? February 2003
Category. structure
Precinct. Union precinct
When was it built? 1934
National Register reference number. 02001759 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

32 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Union Lookout between 1994 and 2020, burning about 95 acres in total. None started naturally. 10 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
Debris and open burning	13
Arson/incendiarism	10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	4
Recreation and ceremony	3
Equipment and vehicle use	1
Power generation/transmission/distribution	1

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
14 September 2013	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Shawnee National Forest	KAOLIN POND ROAD
8 July 2008	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Shawnee National Forest	PINE HILLS CAMP GROU
14 July 2003	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	3.0 acres	Shawnee National Forest	FESCUE FIRE
6 April 2013	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Shawnee National Forest	KAOLIN POND
27 April 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.0 acres	Shawnee National Forest	HARD TIMES 2
2 April 2017	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Shawnee National Forest	STATE FOREST ROAD
2 April 2003	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	12 acres	Shawnee National Forest	THE WHOLE MARYANNE
18 April 2004	Power generation/transmission/distribution	under an acre	Shawnee National Forest	HOOSIER TREE

Every fire recorded in Union County

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Union Lookout: 3 past producers, 2 occurrences, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay, Fire Clay (Refractory). Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
New Albany Shale Exposure	Clay	Prospect
Union County Area-Fireclays	Fire Clay (Refractory)	Past Producer
Dug Hill Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Jonesboro Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this property

30 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Jonesboro, the town this property stands in, in 30 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 13 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 20 injuries. 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
May 1995	Hail	Jonesboro	20 hurt	About ten damage claims were filed with insurance companies as a result of the hailstorm. Enough hail fell to clog storm drains and turn the ground white. Undetermined damage was done to apple orchards.
March 2007	Tornado (EF0)	Jonesboro	$100,000	The tornado damage path began along a country road, then continued northeast over mostly open land for about one-half to three-quarters of a mile. The path then tracked along or nearly parallel to the same road until reaching the intersection of Highway 146. Several witnesses in the area observed a dark funnel bouncing up and down from the storm to the ground. Many trees were either uprooted or topped. One tree that landed on a house caused heavy damage and trapped a resident inside. The resident was freed from the home uninjured. About 15 to 20 homes received light to moderate roof damage. Several articles of debris were lodged from 20 to 50 feet up in the trees. There was some evidence of convergent damage based on how trees were blown down. Given the rapid storm speed of 50 to 60 MPH, all of the damage occurred in about two minutes. Peak winds were estimated near 75 MPH, resulting in a rating of EF (Enhanced Fujita) 0.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$60,000	Widespread wind damage was reported across Jonesboro, including a collapsed garage due to a tree falling on it. Numerous power poles were snapped across town. Numerous trees and power lines were down across the west side of Jonesboro. Some of the trees were up to five feet in diameter. In Anna, a large tree and numerous limbs were down.
November 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$40,000	A nursing home was partially unroofed. About 12 residents of the home were relocated until the damage could be repaired. Trees were down and power was out in the area of the nursing home.
October 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$25,000	An area of scattered wind damage extended from a few miles south of Jonesboro east to the Johnson County line. Numerous large tree limbs were blown down. A few trees were down. One garage not anchored down was moved off its foundation. Some of the most concentrated tree damage was between Anna and Dongola, especially near the community of Balcom. The width of the damage area averaged about one-half mile, but it peaked near one mile.
May 2016	Flash Flood	Jonesboro	$15,000	Major street flooding occurred in Anna, including portions of Illinois Route 146. Illinois Route 146 was closed in Anna after a couple of vehicles became submerged. Numerous streets were flooded in Jonesboro. A rainfall amount of 2.80 inches was measured in about 90 minutes.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$10,000	Trees and large tree limbs were blown down.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$10,000	Numerous trees were blown down across the county. At Jonesboro, the top of a pine tree landed in a pool.
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$5,000	Several trees were blown down around the Jonesboro area.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$3,000	Power lines were blown down.
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	$2,000	Thunderstorm downdraft winds blew a tree down across IL-146 near the intersection of IL-127.
December 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	-	The public reported a measured wind gust of 65 mph.
February 2019	Flash Flood	Jonesboro	-	Water was covering low-lying portions of Highway 146 on the east side of Anna. A cocorahs observer reported a 24-hour rainfall amount of 3.74 inches nearby at Cobden.
December 2016	Flood	Jonesboro	-	Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that resulted in minor flooding of streets and fields in Jonesboro.
June 2015	Flash Flood	Jonesboro	-	Flooded roadways were reported throughout portions of Anna. Several intersections in town were impassable due to high water covering the road.
March 2015	Hail	Jonesboro	-	Dime-size hail fell in the Cobden and Jonesboro areas.
March 2012	Hail	Jonesboro	-	Golf ball size hail was reported in Jonesboro.
April 2006	Hail	Jonesboro	-	Golf ball size hail fell along Highway 127 two miles north of Jonesboro. Quarter size hail fell in Cobden.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	-	A couple of trees were blown down on Route 127.
January 2000	Hail	Jonesboro	-	A trained spotter reported nickel-size hail.
May 2000	Hail	Jonesboro	-	This was the second of two severe thunderstorms that passed southeast across Union County in less than two hours. The main feature of both storms was golf ball size hail.
June 2022	Hail	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
April 2011	Hail	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
March 2007	Hail	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
April 2006	Hail	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
May 2002	Hail	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
May 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
May 1995	Hail	Jonesboro	-	no account filed
May 1995	Hail	Jonesboro	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

4 within 8 miles

Other 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.

Property	Distance	Listed
St. Anne's Episcopal Church	5.9 miles	2003
Stinson Memorial Library	6.1 miles	1978
St. Paulus Evangelisch Lutherischen Gemeinde	6.4 miles	1980
Rendleman Orchards	7.8 miles	2025

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 02001759 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Union County	All 6 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.