MISSOURI LOOKOUTS

SUNRIDGE

Jefferson County
Missouri Conservation Commission
42N-4E-36

FY 1948-49:   A 6 acre towersite was acquired.   (Missouri Conservation Commission Annual Report)

1949-1950:   The 'Official Manual of the State of Missouri'  indicates that the towersite is owned by the Missouri Conservation Commission and is 6 acres in size.

June 1, 1951:   "There will be a public dedication of the Sun Ridge Fire Tower on Highway 21, just 25 miles south of St. Louis, on Sunday, June 17, at 2 p.m. central standard time.  Leonard Hall of Possum Trot Farm will be present to make the formal presentations.  Representatives of many groups, the Missouri Conservation Commission and Federal Forestry agencies will be in attendance."   (Washington Citizen)

July 9, 1951:   "The dedication of the Sunridge Fire Tower.  This lookout stands on a hilltop about half-way between Hillsboro and the Meramec river and dominates a great stretch of Ozark countryside which is today a part of the Meramec Fire Protection District of the Missouri Conservation Commission.  The event was significant not because there is anything unusual about the building of a fire tower, but because no fewer than a dozen civic groups, conservation organizations and state and federal agencies, plus perhaps 150 private citizens, were on hand for the dedication ceremony.  And equally interesting was the fact that the site for the lookout had been presented to the state by an outstanding and public-spirited citizen of the Jefferson county community."   (The Daily Standard)

FY 1968-69:   "A new steel tower was erected at Sun Ridge."   (Missouri Department of Conservation Annual Report FY 1968-69)