Moulton's World War II Observation Tower

A sighting from the Moulton tower went by telephone to Randolph Field. In the Aircraft Warning Service elsewhere, observers phoned a filter center, giving the number of planes, estimated altitude, heading and number of engines. Staff combined reports from several posts to work out an aircraft's position, speed and direction, then plotted flights with markers on large maps in windowless rooms, volunteers keeping the telephones staffed around the clock. The volunteer service was organized in May 1941 with help from the American Legion, and the Army declared it inactive on May 29, 1944.

What the plaque says

Moulton's World War II Observation Tower Prior to the widespread use of radar, elevated observation towers placed along the coastline provided early warning against axis air attack during World War II. Organized in May 1941 by the U.S. Army Air Corps as the Ground Observer Corps (GOC), later the aircraft warning service (AWS), the 14,000-tower system was manned by 1.5 million civilian volunteers. Located on elevated ground roughly one mile east of Moulton, just north of FM 532, the Moulton observation tower (Military I.D. Number "King 136") was the only tower this far (approx. 100 miles) inland. The Moulton Lions Club sponsored construction and in August 1942 community volunteer organizations built the tower from surplus lumber and windows. The tower was elevated to a height of about 20 feet with a ramp style staircase to the central "blockhouse," an enclosed observation room, 12-feet square with windows on all four sides and a wraparound porch, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and sky. All civilian volunteers traveled to Randolph Field (San Antonio) where they were trained in aircraft identification. Upon graduation each received a certificate and lapel pin. Manned during daylight hours starting in September 1942, the tower had aircraft silhouette charts, binoculars, and a telephone directly connected to Randolph Field. When observers sighted aircraft they called in, identified the tower, stated the number seen or heard, and direction flown. By May 1944 the danger of an axis invasion or air attack had dissipated and the GOC and AWS were deactivated. Within a few weeks the tower was torn down and sold for scrap. Moulton's observation tower, and the patriotism and sacrifices of the Volunteers who manned it, serve as proud examples of America's national home front spirit during the war. (2015)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• St. Mary's Church of the Assumption (Praha) — 8.0 mi
  The mother parish of the Czech settlements around Flatonia, a stone-fronted church of 1895 whose ceiling Gottfried Flury turned into a turquoise garden, with an August 15 feast since 1855.
• Spoetzl Brewery — 9.4 mi
  The brewery a Czech and German railroad town started in a tin shed in 1909, run through Prohibition by a Bavarian who had brewed in Cairo, and then by his daughter.
• Lavaca County Courthouse — 14 mi
  A limestone Romanesque courthouse of 1897-99 on the square of a town founded by a widow trader, in a county seat that once printed the Socialist Party's state paper.
• Nativity of Mary, Blessed Virgin Catholic Church (High Hill) — 16 mi
  A red brick Gothic Revival church of 1906 in a German farm settlement, where two San Antonio painters spent 1912 faking marble columns and stone vaults on wood.

More markers nearby

• St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church — 0.8 mi
• Adolph Hofner — 1.2 mi
• Moulton — 1.3 mi
• Cotton Grove Dance Floor and Store — 1.7 mi