From the 1940s through the sixties and seventies, 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 near the Floyd County community of Edwardsville.
Floyd County’s GIS mapping system is hidden behind a paywall, which leaves the construction date of the Long Line tower at Edwardsville uncertain. Still, its design offers some clues: the self-supporting structure likely went up in the 1950s or early 1960s, judging by its form and materials.
At any rate, the tower reaches 155 feet into the sky1. During its AT&T days, its KS-15676 horn antennae relayed a signal from Louisville Kentucky, ten miles southeast, to Hardinsburg, Indiana, twenty-two miles northwest2.
After the Long Lines program ended, AT&T deaccessioned most of its towers around the year 2000. Today, American Tower Management owns Edwardsville’s old Long Line Tower3.
Sources Cited
1 Transmitter Characteristics (n.d.). Antennasearch. Web. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
2 Long Lines Map and Information (n.d.). Web. Map. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
3 Parcel 22-04-00-900-015.000-006 (2025). Office of the Assessor. Floyd County [New Albany]. Web. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
