AT&T built thousands of microwave relay towers during the 1950s and 60s. It’s been forty years since they were used as part of the company’s Long Lines communication network, but many still stand. I’ve been tracking them down in the Hoosier state. Here’s one I found near Leo, Indiana.
The 274-foot tower1 near Leo relayed signals from the Fort Wayne Central office 13 miles southwest to a tower near Albion 21 miles northwest and another near Angola 25 miles northeast2. After the Long Lines program ended, a successor to AT&T sold the Leo tower in 20003.
The obsolete KS-15676 horn antennae of Leo’s Long Line Tower rise ominously above a pair of modern neighborhoods. Today, the tower is owned by Watch Communications, which specialized in wireless broadband, fiber internet, TV, and VoIP phone services4.
Sources Cited
1 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
2 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
3 Parcel 02-03-06-101-002.000-042 (2023). iMap GIS Data Viewer. Allen County [Fort Wayne]. Web. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
4 (See footnote 1).
