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 still stands in Owen County just outside Cloverdale.
The Cloverdale tower appears to have been erected in 19711. It reaches 200 feet tall2. During its AT&T days, its KS-15676 horn antennae relayed a signal from Montclair, twenty-eight miles northeast, to Freedom, seventeen miles southwest3.
After the Long Lines program ended, AT&T deaccessioned most of its towers around the year 2000. After a flurry of ownership changes around the turn of the twenty-first century, the tower near Cloverdale is now operated by Communications Properties, LLC4.
Sources Cited
1 Parcel 60-07-04-203-150.000-026 (2024). Office of the Assessor. Owen County [Spencer]. Web. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
2 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
3 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
4 (See footnote 1).
These articles made me curious about the Long Lines outside of Indiana. I found there were about 5500 towers in total. I have no idea what one might cost, but I’d guess today it could cost close to $500,000 to build one making the total cost nearly $3 billion today. No wonder we thought AT&T phone service was expensive back in the day.
One article I ran across talked about building a tower to provide service to LBJ’s ranch after he became President. You might enjoy it:AT&T Long Lines Department TD-2 Microwave Radio Restoration Van
Something else I ran across talked about the Long Lines that preceeded the towers. CR-26 south of Elkhart once was known as Cable Line Road because that was the route of the E-W cables through the area. I vaguely recall seeing poles with perhaps 50 wires running along the road before the towers. Need to see if I can find an old photo of that.
Howard
Thanks for sending me the link to the LBJ tower. Very interesting! I’ve driven CR-26 hundreds of times since my Dad lived on CR-18, but I’d never heard of it known as Cable Line Road. I’d love to see an old photo and do some research in the meantime! Ted
I vaguely recall seeing all the wires when I was quite young. People seemed to use that name into the 50s and 60s but I doubt if many remember what it means now. I hadn’t thought of it until I saw a long lines picture online.
I’ve never seen a photo, but have asked the County Historic Museum if they have anything. I grew up outside of Wakarusa on CR-3, but rode along on many trips to both Goshen and Elkhart so I saw it on occasion.
Interesting. I’d be willing g to do some more research.