During the 1950s and 60s, AT&T built microwave relay towers all across the United States. They were part of the Long Lines network, an early transcontinental telecommunications system. Today, the towers’ imposing presence persists: part of an old central office, one of them stands among the tallest buildings in downtown South Bend.
As built by Indiana Bell Telephone Company in 1948, the original iteration of South Bend’s AT&T Building was two stories tall. A third floor was added six years later, and a $6.1 million addition that increased the structure’s height to its full eight stories was completed in 19731.
Aside from its role as home to company administration, the South Bend central office served as a hub that relayed signals to and from a variety of other Long Line towers. Microwave horns under the building’s unique canopy connected Mishawaka, four miles southeast, to North Liberty, thirteen miles southwest. It also beamed a signal to a third tower in Rolling Prairie, seventeen miles northwest2.
The South Bend central office is a bigger and better version of the one found in Muncie. Unfortunately, AT&T deaccessioned most of its towers around the year 2000. Today, the company retains ownership of its landmark facility in South Bend.
Sources Cited
1 Parrott, J. (2016, December 29). A skyline mystery in south bend. The South Bend Tribune. Web. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
2 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
I think you’ve given me an idea of something else to look for, like I need it! We had one of these outside of Springfield, Ohio, until sometime in the mid to late 2000s. I didn’t realize what it was until after it was gone, but now I kind of miss seeing it driving along 70.
They’re all over the place!