AT&T built thousands of microwave relay towers as part of its Long Line communications network in the 1950s and 60s. Although they haven’t been used in nearly forty years, many remain standing across Indiana. One of them is near the Floyd County community of Floyd’s Knobs.
Floyd’s Knobs has a funny name that must be addressed immediately. The town was named after Colonel Davis Floyd, an early Indiana politician1. The word “Knobs” comes from the surrounding terrain, as the Knobstone Escarpment rises high above the Ohio River floodplain.
Unfortunately, Floyd County’s GIS mapping system is locked behind a paywall, which means the construction date of the Long Lines tower at Floyds Knobs remains a mystery. What I can tell, though, is that the self-supporting tower was probably built in the 1950s or early 1960s given its appearance.
At any rate, the tower reaches 235 feet into the sky2. During its AT&T days, its KS-15676 horn antennae relayed a signal from Louisville Kentucky, fourteen miles southeast, to Salem, Indiana, twenty-four miles northwest3.
After the Long Lines program ended, AT&T deaccessioned most of its towers around the year 2000. Today, American Tower Management owns Floyd’s Knobs’ old Long Line Tower4.
Sources Cited
1 Baker, R. (1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press [Bloomington]. Book.
2 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
3 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
4 Parcel 22-04-00-900-015.000-006 (2025). Office of the Assessor. Floyd County [New Albany]. Web. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
Have you encountered other public entity GIS/mapping info behind paywalls?
Once in a blue moon, but not often at all. The basic ownership data was available without a subscription, but nothing any more in-depth. Which is unfortunate, since I visited three old LL towers in Floyd County that day!