BRANCH
Missouri Lookouts - Camden County - Missouri Department of Conservation - 37N-19W-34
1945-1946: 40 acres acquired for a towersite. (Annual Report of the Missouri Department of Conservation)
June 28, 1946: "Under construction now or scheduled for completion this summer are the Hollister tower in Taney County, the Branch and Proctor towers in the Lake of the Ozarks district, and the Flat Rock tower in the Eminence district. All will be 60-foot creosoted pole structures of a type designed by the Commission to replace steel towers when steel inaccessible during the war. These pole towers, it was discovered, are much cheaper than steel, even considering durability." (Daily Capital News)
1947-1948: The 'Official Manual of the State of Missouri' indicates that the towersite is owned by the Missouri Conservation Commission and is 40 acres in size.
FY 1955 - 56: "The wooden tower was replaced with a steel tower at Branch in Camden County." (Missouri Conservation Commission Annual Report FY 1955-56)
July 24, 1958: "Oscar Kelso, conservation officer of the Branch lookout tower of Branch, passed away instantly of a heart attack last week." (The Index)
FY1969-70: "The Branch towersite garage received a new roof and the tower got a new tile floor." (Annual Report of the Missouri Department of Conservation)