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HARPER TELEPHONE SERVICE
The
Harper Mutual
Telephone Association, formed by a number of
men of the community,
began service in August 1896 with John Allan its first manager.
The
switchboard, carrying six lines with a separate bell for each line,
was
located in the rear of the Allan General Store. John Crooks was the
assistant operator.
Clara Sondag
In 1906,
Roy
White took over the management of the service, built an additional room
onto his house on German Street, and moved the board there where
he and
his wife, Anna, operated the service until July 1915.
At this time, Mr.
and Mrs. John Crooks became the managers and erected a
small building
on their property on Hutchinson Street for a telephone office.
Mr.
Crooks, who was then a rural mail carrier, was the chief operator and
his wife, Helen, better known as "Doll" his assistant.
When
this rural
route was discontinued, Mr. Crooks became an employee
of the Harper
Lumber Company and Mrs. Crooks assumed the duty of regular operator
with Mr. Crooks on duty during the night hours. Here, Mr. and Mrs.
Crooks gave
45 years of loyal and untiring service. At first long
distance service
was available only by means of an independent line to
Sigourney,
not until 1918 was the Northwestern Bell toll phone
installed. Due to the growth of business,
larger switchboards became
necessary. During the Crooks' 45 years of service two new switchboards
were installed.
Mrs. John "Doll" Crooks
and
Mr. and Mrs. John Crooks
Two of
Mrs. Crooks' brothers, Francis Clarahan and Edward (Bill Bohr) Clarahan
assisted as relief operators. There were others who gave Mrs. Crooks a
"breather"
now and then. During an illness in 1952 her son, Cloyce, and
his wife, Pauline, managed the board.
Within eight weeks Mrs. Crooks
was back on the full time daytime shift at the board.
In April
1958,
Mr. and Mrs. Crooks retired. Over a weekend the board was moved to the
home
of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Clarahan on Lafayette Street. Officers of
the Association
at that time were Cloyd N. Augustine, president; Victor
Weber, P. J. Adam, and Frank Wehr, directors.
In the
picture
above are Leola Redlinger, relief operator for two and one-half years;
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Clarahan, who were operators for four years and
ten months.
The
Central Iowa
Rural Telephone Company brought Dial Service to Harper,
with the first
dial calls being made on January 29, 1963.
Shown in the above picture
is Alfred Conrad, mayor of Harper as he "tests"
the equipment prior to
the cut-over to dial operation at Harper.
This picture was taken inside
the new telephone company building in Harper,
and shows a part of the
complicated mechanism which operates the Harper Dial System.
This new
building is located east of the K. of C. Hall. With a change of
ownership,
The General Telephone Company has been supplying the service
since April 1974.
