Sixty and seventy years ago, AT&T built thousands of Long Line towers as part of its transcontinental microwave communications network. It’s been decades since they were used for their original purpose, but one still stands just south of Rolling Prairie in rural LaPorte County.
I’m not sure when the tower at Rolling Prairie was built, but I bet it was in the 1960s or early 70s. Rising 222 feet1, it relayed signals 17 miles southeast to the central office in South Bend2. Unfortunately, the tower’s KS-15676 horn antennae have been removed.
After the Long Lines program ended, AT&T sold its Rolling Prairie tower in 20003. Today, the tower is still used by AT&T along with Jefferson Microwave, LLC4.
Sources Cited
1 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
2 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
3 Parcel 460336200010000048 (2024). Office of the Assessor. LaPorte County [LaPorte]. Web. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
4 (See footnote 1).
