This lookout replaced an earlier stone masonry built in 1921. Construction of the second lookout began in June of 1939 and was completed the following summer (1940). Park Engineer Phillip Wohlbrandt assessed Mount Washburn Lookout in 1949 and recorded detailed information about it. He stated that in 1939 it cost $17,468.59. The building’s outer dimensions were twenty-five feet five inches by twenty-four feet five inches. With visitors amenities are on the first floor, radio and telecommunications equipment on the second floor, and living quarters and observation room on the third floor, the lookout reflects the end of the "rustic" style in Yellowstone.