Kemper County High Point Trip Report
Date: December 1, 2002
Author: Fred Dale
POINT 1: From the town of DeKalb, MS, go west on Mississippi Highway 16 eleven miles to Highway 495.
Turn south. Go 2.0 miles to a huge geodesic dome at the intersection of 495 and Murphy Hardy Road,
on the left (east). This decommissioned masterpiece of electronic sculpture sits atop the first area.
Apparently the county road maintenance department now uses the site, and maintains a lock on the decrepit fence.
The old FAA/US Government warning signs are rusted. The highest ground may be inside the enclosure,
but it seems altered. The ground was obviously prepared with a gravel base beneath the tower-beast years ago,
and the county now stores slag for paving in the enclosure. The ground on the east
perimeter of the fence seems as high as any natural ground within.
POINT 2: Just 0.3 mile south on Highway 495 gets you to a dirt lane on the left (east). Point 2 is in the
freshly-cut hayfield on the left. Though I didn't sight-level, it really did not seem to be as high as
the Point 1 site easily seen to the north. I think we will be able to eliminate this tiny area.
POINT 3: Now proceed along the dirt lane east, curving south as on the topo map. Don't turn east to
descend the ridge, but stay under the power line southward. At 0.3 mile the height of land on this lane is reached,
at a single strand of barbed wire across the road. This is the hp site. There is, on the east side of the lane,
a USGS BM disk in concrete, "SMITH 1935".
topo chart
GPS on-site data -
point 1 (32° 43.26' N, 88° 50.68' W)
point 2 (32° 43.05' N, 88° 50.68' W)
point 3 (32° 42.82' N, 88° 50.54' W)