AT&T built scads of microwave relay towers as part of its Long Line communications network. Thousands! Although they haven’t been used as part of it in nearly forty years, many towers remain standing across Indiana. One is in Gary.

It’s hard to take a good photo of the Long Line tower in Gary since it stands just south of a modern tower and access is limited. Both are operated by Northern Indiana Public Service Company, one of Indiana’s largest natural gas and electric companies¹. Originally, the microwave tower relayed signals to a central office in Hammond eleven miles northwest². 

After the Long Lines program ended, a successor to AT&T sold most of its towers around the year 2000. Today, the tower is operated by NIPSCO³. 

Sources Cited
1 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
2 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
3 (See footnote 4).