Cell towers in Ford County, IL

The FCC registry lists 30 constructed antenna structures in Ford County, 1% of Illinois's 5,168. Ownership is spread across 18 registrants; the largest, Vertical Bridge, has 4 (13%). The three big tower companies — American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA — hold 5 between them.

Value a buyout offer

1Constructed structures 30
2Tallest 499 ft
3Largest owner Vertical Bridge
4Median height (state 207 ft) 255 ft

Structures

rank 55 of 102 in IL

Most common type

Tower

53% of structures

Over 200 feet

60% of structures

Peak build decade

1990s

27% built then

Who owns the towers in Ford County

18 different registrants own the 30 structures. Owner names are the registrant's legal entity as filed with the FCC; the large tower companies file under many subsidiary names, which this site groups into families where the brand is in the name or listed in the company's SEC filings.

Constructed structures in Ford County by owner group, bars to scale. Source: FCC ASR, October 2026.

Height and age

The median structure here stands 255 feet, 48 feet taller than the Illinois median — a sign of broadcast and rural coverage towers rather than short suburban sites. The tallest is a tower near Paxton at 499 feet, built in 2011. More than in any other decade, 27% were built in the 1990s.

Structures in Ford County by type, bars to scale. Source: FCC ASR.

Structures in Ford County by decade built, columns to scale. Source: FCC ASR.

Every registered structure

Sorted tallest first. The registration number opens the FCC record, which shows the exact location and the owner's contact for the structure. A tower on your land that is not in this list is probably under 200 feet and away from airports, so it did not need registering — see why some towers aren't listed.

FCC reg.	Type	Height	Built	City	Owner
1009071	Tower	499 ft	2011	Paxton	Clearview Tower Company II, LLC
1008128	Guyed tower	369 ft	1995	Melvin	Vertical Bridge NTCF, LLC
1054505	Tower	320 ft	1966	Paxton	EASTERN ILLINI ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
1296146	Lattice tower	304 ft	2015	Sibley	SBA Towers VI, LLC
1050184	Tower	288 ft	1997	Gibson City	Tower Sites, Inc.
1009669	Tower	282 ft	1983	Sibley	F & G BROADCASTING INC DBA = WGCY RADIO
1009509	Guyed tower	275 ft	1990	Sibley	KN Telecommunications Inc.
1009364	Tower	265 ft	2011	Paxton	Tower Sites, Inc.
1313049	Lattice tower	263 ft	2020	Cabery	Parallel Infrastructure III, LLC
1222204	Lattice tower	260 ft	2001	Paxton	American Towers LLC
1256102	Lattice tower	260 ft	2007	Piper City	Cellco Partnership
1256594	Lattice tower	258 ft	2007	Melvin	Cellco Partnership
1271610	Tower	258 ft	2010	Piper City	VB-S1 Assets, LLC
1285007	Lattice tower	256 ft	2013	Gibson City	SBA Towers IX, LLC
1018595	Guyed tower	255 ft	2021	Paxton	ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY
1256183	Guyed tower	255 ft	2007	Gibson	Cellco Partnership
1009478	Tower	250 ft	1955	Paxton	AMEREN ILLINOIS COMPANY
1044957	Tower	249 ft	1951	Cabury	Vertical Bridge S3 Assets, LLC
1058187	Tower	200 ft	1998	Paxton	Vertical Bridge NTCF, LLC
1218004	Tower	200 ft	2001	Paxton	American Towers LLC
1218841	Tower	199 ft	2003	Paxton	T-Mobile USA Tower LLC
1234787	Tower	199 ft	2002	Gibson City	City of Gibson
1280695	Pole	198 ft	2012	Elliot	Vertical Bridge NTCF, LLC
1009491	Other or unspecified	195 ft	1992	Sibley	AMEREN ILLINOIS COMPANY
1250718	Tower	179 ft	2006	Paxton	Cellco Partnership
1054502	Tower	163 ft	1992	Paxton	EASTERN ILLINI ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
1009438	Tower	160 ft	1992	Gibson City	AMEREN ILLINOIS COMPANY
1040085	Tower	155 ft	1997	Paxton	American Towers LLC
1321463	Lattice tower	112 ft	2022	Gibson City	Ford County Wind Farm LLC
1298867	Monopole	60 ft	2016	Paxton	ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY

If you have a tower lease in Ford County

Find your structure above, open its FCC record and confirm the owner — that is the company your lease runs to today, even if a different carrier signed it originally. Before answering a buyout offer, put your current rent, escalator and remaining term into the calculator to see what the rent is worth and what return the offer assumes.

Counties in Illinois with similar tower counts: Randolph County (31), Woodford County (31), Clark County (30), Mercer County (30), Wayne County (30).

Source: FCC Antenna Structure Registration, weekly public access file (r_tower.zip, created 2026-10-18); constructed registrations only; locations rounded. Checked 2026-10-23. Methodology.