@ Mark Ollig
Established in 1871, the Minnesota Railroad and Warehouse Commission initially regulated railroads, set rates, oversaw grain warehouses, and investigated accidents.
In 1915, the Minnesota Legislature ratified “an act to regulate telephone companies and to place them under the control and jurisdiction of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission” (Chapter 152 – House File No. 21).
This act recognized telecommunications as a public utility, requiring companies to submit rates, file annual reports, and maintain an office in Minnesota.
In the early 1910s, Main Avenue West in Winsted was lined with telephone poles fitted with multiple horizontal crossarms.
Each eight-foot crossarm was bolted to the pole with metal hardware and supported by wooden (or metal) braces/brackets and typically carried about ten closely spaced glass insulators, each set on a wooden pin.
Galvanized iron wires, often installed in pairs and running parallel, were supported by these insulators.
To anchor the wire, a 12-inch length of insulated stranded wire was wrapped around the galvanized iron wire and pressed into the one-eighth-inch-deep, three-eighths-inch-wide groove of the glass insulator, securing it firmly in place.
The galvanized iron wire then continued on to the next insulator connection on the following pole, and so on down the line.
This arrangement formed the backbone of Winsted’s early open-wire outside telephone network, with single-wire “drops” to each telephone location.
These early drops ran on the “single wire and earth” principle, using a single conductor and the ground as the return path, until metallic (two-wire) circuits became the standard for improved performance and to reduce interference from grounded power lines.
In the early days of telephony, wooden magneto phones transmitted audio voice using an earth-ground connection as the return path to complete the circuit.
This transmission relied on dry batteries such as zinc-carbon cells, which typically provided around 1.5 volts.
Usually, two or three of these cells were connected in series to power the carbon transmitter (microphone).
The magneto generator was hand-cranked to provide a ringing signal.
The Winsted Telephone Company was established in 1917 and incorporated on April 10, 1920.
Loren J. Ollig, my great-uncle, acquired the stock of the Winsted Telephone Company and became its president on Aug. 31, 1927.
In 1931, my great-grandfather, Wallace N. King of Waverly, purchased the company, with ownership passing to my grandfather, Mathew L. Ollig, and my grandmother, Marie Antoinette (née King) Ollig, in 1932.
The 1930 census reported 482 residents in Winsted.
From the Winsted Telephone Company’s 1931 annual report, “For the Year Ended Dec. 31, 1931,” page eight, under “Plant Data,” details are given on external telephone poles, galvanized iron, open wire, and cable in use.
Three miles of local telephone pole lines and 18 miles of pole lines used for toll services were recorded.
According to the 1931 annual report, the Winsted Telephone Company had 78 local metallic circuits (two-wire balanced pair), eight rural iron wire grounded circuits, and three leased metallic toll circuits used for long-distance or inter-exchange calls.
A total of 233.15 miles of galvanized iron wire strands in 10, 12, and 14-gauge sizes were used within the Winsted exchange; the high number is due to multiple iron wires strung along each telephone pole.
The 1931 annual report recorded that 50 miles of leased 10 and 12-gauge iron wire were used for toll circuits connecting to other telephone exchanges.
The company’s underground cable totaled 4,818 feet and consisted of 19 and 22-gauge wiring.
In 1931, the Winsted Telephone Company used a Monarch legacy model switchboard, which connected subscribers to local businesses and other residents.
A caller would crank the hand generator on their magneto phone, creating an electrical ringing current that traveled to the local switchboard and alerted the operator via a spring-loaded metal drop annunciator.
The annunciator, visible above the line connector jack, would fall open when signaled, and an audible click could be heard as the relay activated on the switchboard panel.
Local subscribers could also call other towns through the switchboard by using leased telephone exchange toll circuits to nearby telephone exchanges.
These dedicated lines, rented from other exchanges, allowed local callers to reach operators or subscribers outside the immediate Winsted exchange.
The operator would plug into the toll circuit and route the call through the connected nearby exchange.
At that time, Winsted’s switchboard operator was the local community “news node” and would be called whenever the fire siren sounded or church bells rang, as residents wanted to know where the fire was or who had died.
Local business owners would have their calls “forwarded” by the switchboard operator to wherever they were whenever they left their store.
The Winsted switchboard was located less than a block directly north of the present-day Winsted Telephone (TDS Telecom) office, in what would later become the Klip and Kurl Salon building, which stood on the north side of the Pantry Cafe and is now a vacant lot.
In 1937, Winsted Telephone Company reported a total of 180 stations (telephones), comprising 35 business and 61 residential stations in town, and 84 in the rural area.
The total length of underground cable for both 19 and 22-gauge wiring was recorded at 4,968 feet.
The 1915 Minnesota Chapter 152—H.F. No. 21, “an act to regulate telephone companies and to place them under the control and jurisdiction of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission,” can be read at https://bit.ly/4fzgqLd.
Next week, your columnist continues his nostalgic journey with a visit to the present-day Winsted Telephone Company, now TDS Telecom.
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| Main Street East in Winsted, circa 1910s. Sturdy telephone poles with crossarms, glass insulators, and wire line the south side of the street, forming the backbone of Winsted’s early telecommunications network. “The Examiner,” Winsted’s local newspaper, established in 1910, appears on the south (right) side (looks to be where the present-day post office is?). |
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| Mark Ollig’s grandmother, Marie Antoinette (née King) Ollig, operates the Winsted Telephone Company’s Monarch legacy model switchboard in the early 1930s (likely around 1932). The movable “lollipop”-style microphone, attached to a mounting arm bracket, was standard operator equipment of that era. This is combined with a close-up of the Monarch legacy model switchboard taken in 1941. Photos courtesy Mark Ollig |
