AT&T built thousands of microwave relay towers in the 1950s and 60s as part of its long-distance telecommunications system called the Long Lines network. It’s been decades since they were used for in that capacity, but many still stand. Here’s one near Point Isabel, Indiana.
AT&T’s Point Isabel tower was built in 19651. The 327-foot tall, cable-stayed structure2 connected a tower in Anderson twenty-three miles southeast with another thirty miles northeast in Marion3.
A variety of technological improvements spelled the end of the Long Lines program in the 1980s. After AT&T was broken up, a successor company sold the Point Isabel tower in 20004.
Although it no longer features its microwave horns antennae, the tower is operated by the Swayzee Telephone Company today5.
Sources Cited
1 Grant County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2023). Parcel ID: 27-12-27-300-015.000-010 . Grant County, Indiana Assessor. map, Marion, IN.
2 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
3 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
4 (See footnote 1).
5 (See footnote 2).
