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Beaver Island Telephone Company

Also Beaver Island Telephone Company · BITCO · Island Telephone Company · Beaver Island Telephone Co.

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

Locator map: Saint James highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Saint JamesLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
TypeCompany
Founded1957-06
Coordinates45.7460° N, 85.5220° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
WithinSaint James · Beaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Locator map: Saint James highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Saint JamesLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
Company
Founded
1957-06
Coordinates
45.7460° N, 85.5220° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
economycommunityheritagecommunicationtechnologyinfrastructuregovernance
Within
Saint James · Beaver Island

Summary

The Beaver Island Telephone Company, later commonly called Island Telephone Company, was organized in 1957 after the U.S. Coast Guard gave notice it would stop routing free commercial calls through its Beaver Island facilities. Subscribers formed a local company that June, and Bell Telephone completed the mainland connection by radiowave on 15 September 1957. The company grew from 48 phones in 1958 to 81 by 1959, installed a new switchboard in 1960-61, and was still recruiting subscribers under manager Erwin C. Martin in 1963. A March 1967 fire destroyed its switchboard and cut off the island’s ordinary communication with the mainland until a new building went up the following year. Owned by Vic Shapley through the 1980s and criticized locally for slow installations and party-line service, the company was bought outright by Telephone and Data Systems in November 1989, which rebuilt the network with buried fiber-optic cable and completed a digital cutover on 28 October 1992.

History

Beaver Island’s telephone service began as a response to a threatened loss. In the week of 6 January 1957 the Ninth Coast Guard District notified Jewell F. Gillespie that it would stop carrying commercial calls through its own facilities that June — free routing the island had relied on.1 The Beaver Island Civic Association put Gillespie in charge of a committee that included Joe Dillingham, Frank Nackerman, Rogers Carlisle, Dr. F. E. Luton, Fr. Joseph, Lloyd McDonough and Matt Melville, while the Michigan Public Service Commission confirmed it had already asked Michigan Bell for a solution. Bell agreed to extend service if islanders organized their own company; by April 35 people had asked for a phone, and in May the committee proposed a roughly $6,000, 42-phone dial system funded by $10 shares. In June subscribers settled on the name Beaver Island Telephone Company, elected Gillespie president, Fr. Joseph secretary and Luton treasurer, and raised the projected cost to $7,500 after demand nearly doubled the estimate. Bell completed the connection at 2:01 a.m. on Sunday, 15 September 1957, linking the island to the Petoskey exchange by radiowave, with Joe Dillingham serving as the company’s serviceman and bookkeeper from the start.

Growth outpaced the founders’ hopes. The first annual meeting, on 17 January 1958, reported 48 phones operating under president Rogers Carlisle; that May three pay phones were added, at the airport, Lloyd’s Store and near Musette’s Souvenir Shop. By the July 1959 stockholders meeting the count had reached 81 phones against an original hope of 25. A new switchboard arrived that October under manager Joe Dillingham and entered service on 12 January 1961 with new numbers and rates. In June 1961 the company hosted a district meeting of the Michigan Independent Telephone Association — the Beacon crediting Dillingham, “Beaver Island’s ‘Mr. Telephone,’” with donating the event’s surplus to the island’s park fund — and that August, Indiana Bell’s Donavon A. Langford Jr. placed what the Beacon called the island’s first long-distance direct-dialing call, under area code 616. By October 1963 the company was recruiting islanders for service “anywhere on Beaver Island” under manager Erwin C. Martin.

Fire ended that stability. On the night of 11 March 1967 the company’s office building caught fire; by the time it was out, the switchboard and telephone equipment were destroyed and the island’s phones went dead with them. Only the Conservation Department’s radio and Dick LaFreniere’s aircraft Unicom still worked, and a temporary phone went in at LaFreniere’s store while service moved into the old kitchen of Holy Cross Hall; the fire’s cause was never determined.2 That temporary setup could not keep pace with a growing community, and by November 1968 the company had built a new metal building and installed new equipment, with more off-island circuits planned to close what the Beacon called the “communication gap.”

By November 1971 the company — by then generally identified in the Beacon as Island Telephone Company — had added enough circuits to Petoskey that the new Beaver Island Medical Center could transmit EKG tracings to mainland heart stations for cardiologist consultation, administrator Dr. Joseph Christie reported.

By the 1980s the company, based in Chesaning, Michigan and owned by Vic Shapley, had fallen behind island expectations. At a 12 September 1983 meeting arranged by Peaine Township, residents pressed Shapley over years-long installation waits and ten-party lines; he said the company had had no rate increase since the 1950s and needed Public Service Commission approval to finance improvements, and promised a filed expansion plan by 1 March 1984 and single-party service by mid-1985 — under threat, the Beacon reported, of “stringent actions” if the promises went unmet. An April 1987 notice announced added toll circuits, new one- and two-party switching, automatic number identification, expanded rural cable and 24-hour pay-station service.

On 29 November 1989, Telephone and Data Systems of Madison, Wisconsin — which had already handled the company’s billing for four years — bought Island Telephone Company outright; Shapley told the Beacon TDS had “a very good record” and that the local name, number and staff would stay the same.3 A Lifeline discount for low-income customers took effect 1 December 1990, and the following September general manager Eugene D. Newell announced a three-phase, $907,000 first-phase project: 68 route miles of buried fiber-optic and copper cable replacing the island’s aerial lines, with digital switching and a microwave phase to follow. The new system cut over on 28 October 1992, changing the dial tone, requiring full seven-digit dialing, and converting pay phones to pre-pay. That June, TDS Telecom and Island Telephone had also sponsored the island’s essay contest, awarding student Jennifer Wogan a $200 savings bond.

Evidence and limits

This is a company biography built entirely from Beaver Beacon coverage — company notices, meeting reports and newspaper accounts — not a corporate charter, Public Service Commission or Securities Commission filing, or the company’s own minutes and ledgers, none of which are known to survive. No source establishes whether the Coast Guard’s threatened June 1957 cutoff actually occurred before the company’s own service began that September, or gives a complete subscriber roll at any date. “Island Telephone Company” appears consistently in the company’s own notices from at least 1983, but no held source documents a formal renaming; this article treats the two names as the same entity rather than asserting a superseded former name. The 1967 fire’s cause was never determined, and no source held here follows the company past October 1992.

Significance

The company’s history tracks the island’s mid-century shift toward year-round mainland connection: formed to replace a threatened Coast Guard convenience, it grew from a hoped-for 25 phones to 81 within two years, survived a fire that briefly cut the island off from ordinary communication, and was rebuilt three times — a new building in 1968, a Public Service Commission-supervised expansion after 1983, and a buried fiber-optic network after 1991. Its Petoskey circuits let the Beaver Island Medical Center transmit EKG readings to mainland cardiologists by 1971.

Open questions

  • Did the Coast Guard’s threatened June 1957 routing cutoff actually occur, or was it preempted by the September cut-over?
  • What caused the 11 March 1967 office fire, and does a fire-marshal or insurance record survive anywhere?
  • Was “Island Telephone Company,” used from at least 1983, a formal corporate renaming or only a shortened public name?
  • Did Shapley’s promised Public Service Commission filing survive in state records?
  • What became of the company, by then a TDS subsidiary, after the October 1992 cutover?

See also

Sources

See the sources: block above. Footnotes cite the specific claims checked directly against the held issue text.

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Beacon, February 1957, “Telephone Tangle.” ↩

  2. Beaver Beacon, March 1967, “Party Line Fire.” ↩

  3. Beaver Beacon, December 22, 1989, “Island Telephone Company Sold.” ↩

The dated record

20 dated events · 1959–1998These years on the timeline →

Sources

  1. Reports the Ninth Coast Guard District's notice, served the week of 6 January 1957, that Coast Guard-routed commercial telephone calls would end that June, the Civic Association's appointment of a committee under Jewell F. Gillespie, and the Michigan Public Service Commission's confirmation that it had already written Michigan Bell suggesting a solution. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-02_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held three-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the Coast Guard notice and committee report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-02_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Reports Michigan Bell's conditional willingness to establish electronic service if islanders formed a local company with sufficient subscribers, and the committee's call for reports of interest. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-03_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the reported Bell proposal.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-03_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Reports committee chairman Gillespie's count of 35 people who had asked for island telephone service, all but seven of them in the village. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-04_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the reported interest count.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-04_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Publishes the conditional plan for a local company: roughly $6,000, $10 shares, a 42-phone dial system on seven six-phone party lines, $5 residential and $8.50 business installation, and $500 needed at once for engineering and incorporation. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-05_Beaver-Beacon
  8. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published bulletin.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-05_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Reports that subscribers selected the name Beaver Island Telephone Company, elected a temporary board (J. F. Gillespie president, Fr. Joseph secretary, F. E. Luton treasurer), hired a consultant at Bell's suggestion, and raised the projected initial cost to about $7,500 after demand nearly doubled the original estimate; about $3,500 of an $8,000 stock goal was subscribed, with a 15 September Bell hookup targeted. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-06_Beaver-Beacon
  10. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the company-formation report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-06_Beaver-Beacon
  11. Brief notice that company stock was available from treasurer Dr. Luton. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-07_Beaver-Beacon
  12. The held three-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the stock notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-07_Beaver-Beacon
  13. Reports consultant Ed Cadwell stringing 16-pair cable, main-street poles installed, the switchboard housed in a new building behind the Gillespie residence, and published residential rates of $6.00 (one-party), $4.50 (two-party) and $3.50 (four-party) per month. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-08_Beaver-Beacon
  14. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the construction and rate report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-08_Beaver-Beacon
  15. Reports 15 September as the scheduled radiowave cut-over to the Petoskey exchange, 48 assigned subscriber numbers, and a published one-sheet directory. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-09_Beaver-Beacon
  16. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the scheduled cut-over and subscriber count.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-09_Beaver-Beacon
  17. Reports Bell's cut-over at 2:01 a.m. Sunday, 15 September 1957, linking the company to the mainland by radiowave, and names Joe Dillingham as company serviceman and bookkeeper. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-10_Beaver-Beacon
  18. The held two-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the completed cut-over.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1957-10_Beaver-Beacon
  19. Reports the first annual meeting on 17 January 1958, 48 phones operating, the elected board (Dillingham, McDonough, McGregor, Carlisle, LaFreniere) and officers (R. W. Carlisle president, LaFreniere vice-president, Dillingham secretary-treasurer), and future annual meetings set for the second Friday in July. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1958-02_Beaver-Beacon
  20. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the annual-meeting report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1958-02_Beaver-Beacon
  21. Reports the switchboard increased to add three pay phones, at the airport, Lloyd's Store and near Musette's Souvenir Shop. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1958-05_Beaver-Beacon
  22. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the pay-phone report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1958-05_Beaver-Beacon
  23. Reports the early-July annual stockholders meeting and 81 phones in service against an original hope of 25, with retiring board members returned to office. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1959-08_Beaver-Beacon
  24. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the reported phone count.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1959-08_Beaver-Beacon
  25. Reports the annual meeting held 8 July 1960 with no change in board or officers.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-08_Beaver-Beacon
  26. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the annual-meeting notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1960-08_Beaver-Beacon
  27. Reports the Michigan Independent Telephone Association's statewide meeting on Mackinac Island, 12 September 1960, drawing some 400 guests addressed by Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield and Lt. Governor John B. Swainson, and names five Beaver Island couples, including Joe and Rogers Carlisle and Dorothy McGregor, among the delegation.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-10_Beaver-Beacon
  28. The held three-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the delegation report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1960-10_Beaver-Beacon
  29. Reports a new switchboard arriving 31 October 1960 under manager Joe Dillingham, and, in an obituary, identifies Dorothy McGregor as a director of the company.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-11_Beaver-Beacon
  30. The held three-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the switchboard-arrival notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1960-11_Beaver-Beacon
  31. Announces 12 January 1961 as the date the new switchboard would enter service, with new subscriber numbers and directories, and states Direct Distance Dialing would remain unusable until additional Petoskey trunking was installed.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-12_Beaver-Beacon
  32. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the switchboard-service announcement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1960-12_Beaver-Beacon
  33. Reports the new switchboard installed and new directories issued, and publishes the revised monthly and seasonal rate schedule by party-line class.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-01_Beaver-Beacon
  34. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the switchboard and rate report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-01_Beaver-Beacon
  35. Reports the company hosting a Michigan Independent Telephone Association district meeting on 28-29 June 1961, with a main group of 51 and members of 13 companies, and Joe Dillingham, "Beaver Island's 'Mr. Telephone,'" donating about $40 in event surplus to the island's park fund.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-07_Beaver-Beacon
  36. The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the district-meeting report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-07_Beaver-Beacon
  37. Reports the first long-distance direct-dialing call received on the island, a test call by Donavon A. Langford Jr. of Indiana Bell, under area code 616.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-08_Beaver-Beacon
  38. The held eight-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the direct-dialing report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-08_Beaver-Beacon
  39. Reports Joe Dillingham hearing unintended voices through a church-organ amplifier and Jewell and Rita Gillespie hearing a telephone conversation interrupt their television, attributed to the telephone circuit, with a spring change expected to stop it.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-01_Beaver-Beacon
  40. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the cross-talk report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1962-01_Beaver-Beacon
  41. Announces the company's plans to expand service anywhere on Beaver Island, names Erwin C. Martin as manager with office and home telephone numbers, records an annual stockholders meeting held at Vernon LaFreniere's home, and directs bill payments to the company at Saint James.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1963-10_Beaver-Beacon
  42. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the expansion notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1963-10_Beaver-Beacon
  43. Reports the telephone office building fire of 11 March 1967, the destruction of the switchboard and equipment, the severing of ordinary island communication except for the Conservation Department radio and Dick LaFreniere's aircraft Unicom, a temporary phone installed at LaFreniere's store, and an undetermined fire origin.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1967-03_Beaver-Beacon
  44. The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the fire report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1967-03_Beaver-Beacon
  45. Reports temporary equipment in the old Holy Cross Hall kitchen overtaxed by summer demand, a new metal building constructed that fall, new equipment being installed, and extended lines and more off-island circuits planned.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1968-11_Beaver-Beacon
  46. The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the rebuilding report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1968-11_Beaver-Beacon
  47. Reports that the Island Telephone Company increased the number of outgoing circuits to Petoskey, enabling the Medical Center to transmit EKG tracings to heart stations for cardiologist consultation.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1971-11_Beaver-Beacon
  48. The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the circuit report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1971-11_Beaver-Beacon
  49. Reports the 12 September 1983 meeting with Island Telephone Company owner Vic Shapley, arranged by Peaine Township; criticism of installation waits and ten-party lines; Shapley's statement that the company had had no tariff increase since the 1950s; his promise of a Public Service Commission plan by 1 March 1984 and single-party service by mid-1985; the local repairman John Gillespie and a Chesaning, Michigan toll-free number; and islanders' warning of "stringent actions" if the promises went unmet. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1983-10_Beaver-Beacon
  50. The held eleven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the meeting report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1983-10_Beaver-Beacon
  51. Reports January 1987 toll-circuit additions, one- and two-party switching equipment due by April, an automatic number-identification system effective April, planned rural cable expansion, and 24-hour pay-station service. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1987-04_Beaver-Beacon
  52. The held sixteen-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the upgrade notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1987-04_Beaver-Beacon
  53. Reports Telephone and Data Systems of Madison, Wisconsin buying Island Telephone Company of Chesaning, Michigan on 29 November 1989, after four years handling its billing; quotes owner Vic Shapley saying TDS had "a very good record" and that the local name, phone number and personnel would continue. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1989-12_Beaver-Beacon
  54. The held eighteen-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the sale report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1989-12_Beaver-Beacon
  55. Announces Lifeline Service effective 1 December 1990 for customers at or below 130% of the federal poverty level: a $4 monthly discount and half-price new-service hookup up to $30. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1990-11_Beaver-Beacon
  56. The held eighteen-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the Lifeline announcement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1990-11_Beaver-Beacon
  57. Reports a first-phase construction project beginning 16 September 1991, awarded to Roese Contracting Company of Kawkawlin, Michigan, at a cost of $907,000: 68 route miles of buried fiber-optic and copper cable and 31 miles of service drops, removing existing aerial lines; describes a second phase converting to digital switching and single-party service and a third phase converting to digital microwave; names Eugene D. Newell as General Manager and announces a 30 October 1991 public meeting at Peaine Township Hall. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1991-10_Beaver-Beacon
  58. The held nineteen-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the construction-project report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1991-10_Beaver-Beacon
  59. Reports spring restoration scheduling after outside-plant construction work, asking Beaver and Bois Blanc Island customers to report property needing cleanup. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1992-03_Beaver-Beacon
  60. The held twenty-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the restoration notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1992-03_Beaver-Beacon
  61. Announces Beaver Island High School student Jennifer Wogan as winner of the TDS Telecom and Island Telephone annual essay contest, a $200 U.S. savings bond, on the topic of rural community development. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1992-06_Beaver-Beacon
  62. The held twenty-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the essay-contest report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1992-06_Beaver-Beacon
  63. Announces a tentative 28 October 1992 cutover to the new telephone system: a different dial tone, full seven-digit dialing required, pay phones converting to pre-pay, and private lines with optional touch-tone and calling features becoming available; warns customers to call MISS DIG before digging near telephone cable. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1992-09_Beaver-Beacon
  64. The held twelve-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the cutover announcement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1992-09_Beaver-Beacon
  65. Reports that a group of subscribers selected Beaver Island Telephone Company as the new corporation’s name, elected a temporary board, and named J. F. Gillespie president, Fr. Joseph secretary, and F. E. Luton treasurer. The company was authorized to organize and operate, but the report does not provide a filed charter, Securities Commission authority, permanent board, or proof of completed service. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1957-06_Beaver-Beacon
  66. Reports that BITCO telephone lines had been lengthened to Pat Bonner’s farm, giving Joe Dillingham a telephone. It does not provide route maps, installation records, subscriber lists, contracts, engineering documents, or proof of complete service expansion. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1959-01_Beaver-Beacon
  67. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the line-extension notice; it does not expand the company or service record.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1959-01_Beaver-Beacon
  68. Reports the early-July stockholders meeting, 81 phones in service compared with an original hope for 25, and the return of retiring board members. It does not provide minutes, a subscriber roll, financial statements, or technical installation records. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1959-08_Beaver-Beacon
  69. Current OSM maps an Island Telephone Company central-office building at 37940 King's Highway, approximately -85.5220416, 45.745955. This is a current facility representative for the long-running telephone company; the historical sources describe earlier offices and a 1967 fire, so it is not proof that the 1957–1968 switchboard occupied this same building.
    osm · power_utilities

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Telephone Company”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/organizations/beaver-island-telephone-company/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1957, "Telephone Tangle." (and 68 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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