Hayter Firetower - CCC P53VA - Channel NAP, VA
Posted by: 
vhasler
N 36° 52.280 W 081° 58.710
17S E 412789 N 4081045
Firetower was built by CCC Camp P53VA
Waymark Code: WM8F3A
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 03/24/2010
Views: 5
Stenciled upside down on a lower beam is "J.J. Topper, Foreman Bastain, VA, Camp P-53". (The photo in the gallery is flipped for easier reading.)
This firetower was built by Civilian Conservation Corpe Camp P53VA (where the P was for private land and 53 was the number of the camp) known as Camp Cherokee based in Bastian, Virginia. Company 1388. reference
On 9/11/2007, the Smyth County Board of Supervisors made a resolution to "request that the Virginia Department of Forestry leave the fire tower a top Clinch Mountain as it now exists with the improvements to be made by volunteers in the near future" which passed. The bottom steps of the tower have been removed, but steps appear to be in good condition with some new bolts on the frame.
A children's story "The Fire Tower" by Jack Kestner is also based on this location.