About Us

Hi and thank you for reading about Fire Tower Camp! My name is Billy Claunch - I am the founder and would love to share a little about the history of the area and our place. As always, if you have questions or would like to reach out, you can connect with me at billy@firetowercamp.com or 256-326-9399. Look forward to hearing from you!

In the 1830s the land around Pigeon Roost Creek was settled by the Lott Family. Everyone in this area were farmers throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. After Lewis Smith Lake was built by Alabama Power and the Corps of Engineers in the early 1960s, more population and recreation uses were found for the property around the lake.

Like all large land tracts, throughout the generations the ownership was divided through sons and daughters, sold, and resold so that the original holdings are nearly unrecognizable any longer. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, my wife's Grandparents (Clyde Wilson and Elmira Lott Wilson) wanted to establish a central location that their growing family, (they had 7 children, who were now having Grandchildren of which my wife Paula is one), could gather for holidays, family reunions, or anytime someone just wanted some time away. This resulted in about 90 acres of well tended forest and fields on "Craven Hole Road" (County Road 359) in Crane Hill, Alabama that was and still is enjoyed by the Wilson family.

When Paula and I got married in 2000, we started spend lots of time at Smith Lake and loved the area. Inspired by Paula's lifelong love of Summer Camp, and her family's visionary and unique "Cousin's Camp" that has been put on my Paula's family since the 1980s at the Lott Family Property, we wanted to build a space that could be enjoyed by anyone similar to this.

In light of Billy's involvement in the Fire Industry over the past 20+ years, having a connection to Fire Suppression was a natural step.