AT&T built thousands of microwave relay towers as part of its Long Line communications network in the 50s and 60s. Although they haven’t been used in nearly forty years, many remain standing across Indiana. One looms over Bethesda Cemetery just east of the Morgan County community of Monrovia.
Judging by its appearance, the tower near Monrovia was probably built around 1960. Although it’s missing its iconic KS-15676 horn antennae, the tower is one of the tallest I’ve been to: it rises 419 feet into the rural Indiana sky1! When it was in use, it relayed a signal from Indianapolis, nineteen miles northeast, to Hindustan, seventeen miles south2.
After the Long Lines program ended, AT&T deaccessioned most of its towers around the year 2000. Today, the tower near Monrovia is owned by the state of Indiana and operated by the Indiana State Police 3.
Sources Cited
1 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
2 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
3 (See footnote 1).
