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 outside of Kouts in Porter County.
The tower in Kouts appears to have been built in 19571. Although it’s missing its iconic KS-15676 horn antennae, the tower still rises 388 feet2. That’s as tall as a 38-story building! Originally, it transmitted a signal twenty-nine miles southeast to Culver from another tower thirty-one miles southwest in Grant Park, Illinois3.
After the Long Lines program ended, AT&T deaccessioned most of its towers around the year 2000. Today, the tower at Kouts is used by Surf Air Wireless under license by Maplenet Wireless4.
Sources Cited
1 Parcel 64-16-17-352-002.000-013 (2024). Office of the Assessor. Porter County [Valparaiso]. Web. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
2 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved August 23 2024.
3 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
4 (See footnote 2).
