Black Creek Fire Tower
The Black Creek Fire Lookout Tower, also known as the Grassy Knob Tower, is located at Black Creek in Robbins, on a towering ridge between the Clear Fork and New Rivers that is known as Grassy Knob. It is one of two fire towers in Scott County still maintained by the Tennessee Division of Forestry. It was used for fire detection from 1951 to 1967.
The tower is an 80-foot-tall skeletal steel structure that was built to provide a high, sheltered location for fire observation.
The Black Creek Tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
See Also: Scott County’s Historic Places
Construction
The Black Creek Fire Lookout Tower was built in 1951. It is a four-sided, truss-frame tower built with galvanized steel and bolted connections. Atop it is a seven-foot by seven-foot square cab that provides a 360-degree, panoramic view of the surrounding terrain. It is accessible via a series of 12 steel staircases.
The tower measures 20 feet by 18 feet at its base, and is supported by concrete footers.
The tower was designed by Aerometer Company of Chicago, Ill.
Other Buildings
Adjacent to the lookout tower is an operator’s cabin, a crew house, and other buildings. All were constructed circa 1951.
The operator’s cabin is a 10 foot by 12 foot cabin originally used to provide shelter for fire spotter personnel. It is now used as a storage shed.
The crew house is a 23 foot by 43 foot, single-story frame building that was used to provide shelter for firefighters.
There is also a pair of utility buildings and a pavilion.
In 2010, the Division of Forestry erected a radio tower adjacent to the lookout tower.
Usage
In the 1950s, when the Black Creek Fire Tower was constructed, such fire observation towers were common throughout Tennessee, where thickly-forested areas were hard to reach due to mountainous terrain. According to the University of Tennessee, the state had 208 lookout towers at its peak, of which 142 remained in existence as of 2014.
Other fire towers in Scott County included:
• Smith Knob Tower in Oneida, which, along with Black Creek Tower, are the only two towers in Scott County that are still operated by the Tennessee Division of Forestry. Both can still be used when the need arises.
• Slaven Knob Tower at Foster Crossroads (still exists).
• View Tree Knob Tower above Rock House Creek (only the base remains).
• Braden Mountain Tower above Rock House Creek (the tower was removed and reassembled at View Tree Knob but no longer remains).
• Brimstone Tower on Signal Mountain between Brimstone Creek and Bull Creek (no longer remains).
Other towers outside Scott County but in the local area included: Pilot Mountain near Sunbright, Frozen Head near Wartburg, Nig Field above Smokey Junction in Campbell County, Lone Mountain near Wartburg, Jones Knob at Deer Lodge, Catoosa near Wartburg, the Burrville tower west of Glenmary, the Allardt Tower, the Rock House Tower near Divide Road, and the Pickett Tower at Pickett State Forest (which was moved from Rock House in 1972).