| In the summer of 1939, Henry Stone, traveling from Oklahoma, arrived
in Magazine, Arkansas. He was here to remove the switchboard, poles, and
wire that made up the Magazine Telephone Company. At that time there
were 10 telephones and 2 pay stations operating in Magazine. A magneto
switchboard served the customers. |
| Henry Stone, seeing the small town of Magazine clustered at the foot
of Magazine Mountain along the banks of the Petit Jean River, fell in
love with the area. When he returned to Oklahoma, he and Anna decided to
buy the little telephone company. On August 15, Anna, Henry and their
son and daughter, Doris Jane and Henry Donald, moved to Magazine. A
tradition of telephone service commenced and has continued for sixty
years. In 1999 we commemorated our Diamond Jubilee Year. |
| In 1940, the Stones purchased the property at 40 South Wood Street,
built a home and moved the magneto switch into the new home. Also in
1940, the company that contracted to build the Blue Mountain Dam
contacted the Telephone Company. The builders asked Henry if he would
build a telephone line to the dam site. Henry hired two local men, Autry
Sloan and Dick Roberts, to cut down cedar trees, dig holes, and set
poles out to the dam. Henry strung two circuits of wire on the poles.
One circuit was to serve the dam. The other circuit was to serve Blue
Mountain and Waveland. The Blue Mountain - Waveland circuit served 20
subscribers and started the growth of service to those areas. |
| December 7, 1941 marked several changes in the Stone household. With
the outbreak of WW II, the Stones were frequent hosts of spouses and
families of service men and women. People would be in the home at all
times of the day and night; anxiously trying to have calls completed to
loved ones around the world. During the night, Henry would pull their
bed up close to the switchboard so that Anna could answer calls without
getting out of bed. |
| After the end of WW II, the R.E.A. System was introduced to the
area. This electrification project induced noise into the one wire
magneto system that was currently in use by the Telephone Company. Henry
converted the magneto system to a new system called common battery.
Instead of just one wire, common battery required two metallic wires for
each circuit. With the electrification of the area, people also wanted
telephone service so they could call in feed orders, talk to the vet,
and visit with neighbors. Magazine Telephone Company started a program
to extend telephone lines to the rural areas of Reville Valley, Sugar
Grove, and other areas adjacent to Magazine. |
| 1952 marked the installation of a dial system called Terminal Per
Line in Magazine. This system accommodated 100 subscribers and served
the area for the next decade. |
| In 1962, with the expansion of the rural area service, the 100-line
office was too small. A new system (Terminal Per Station) was installed
in a newly constructed building, just behind the central office
building. The new system had features that allowed customers to keep
their telephone numbers as they moved to different homes. Also, when the
phone rang, the call was actually for the resident at that phone. No
more coded rings. At that time, the old central office was remodeled and
the business office was moved out of the Stones' home. |
| Henry died in 1963. Anna and Henry Jr. (Sonny) assumed the
responsibility for the 176-subscriber Telephone Company. Sonny, in 1966,
determined that the customers needed to be able to call South Logan
County without additional charges. Southwestern Bell and Western
Arkansas Telephone Companies wanted to discontinue long distance service
from Fort Smith and serve long distance out of Russelville. They had to
have Magazine Telephone Company's permission to do so. Using that need
as a bargaining chip, Sonny persuaded Western Arkansas Telephone Company
to install E.A.S service between Magazine and Booneville. |
| Seeing the need for additional capacity and better service levels,
in 1972 the company decided to build a new office in Blue Mountain.
Subscribers in Magazine and Blue Mountain were converted to private line
(one party) service and the rural; subscribers were upgraded to four
party line services. |
| During 1983 Bill Jones, Doris Stone Jones husband, retired from
Civil Service at the Missile Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Jones
moved to Magazine and Doris became the Company Office Manager, assisting
Anna in the business office. Doris held this position for the next 10
years. |
| Doris' family was very active in the family business. Billy Don, her
eldest, worked in the business office for several years. Doris' daughter
Debbie and her husband Rodney were employed in the business, as was
Jeral, Doris' youngest son. |
| Magazine Telephone Company started converting the outside plant to
one party service allowing rural residents to obtain one party line
service, The project, occurring in 1986, consisted of placing 90% of the
outside cable under ground. |
| Anna Stone was forced to retire in 1989, a victim of poor health.
Sonny purchased her home and remodeled it before moving his large family
to Magazine Anna lived out her years in this home, frequently watching
the comings and goings of the family and of customers. Anna died in
1992, leaving the company to Sonny and Doris. In 1994, Sonny bought
Doris' share, allowing Doris a chance to retire. |
| During 1991, a trailer that housed an entire digital office switch
was temporarily placed behind the central office. This switch carried
subscriber service. During this period of time, the old telephone system
was converted to digital service. The old central office equipment was
removed and the office was remodeled. |
| Fiber optic cable was installed between the Magazine exchange and
the Blue Mountain exchange. At the same time, fiber optic cable was
installed from the Blue Mountain Central Office to the new central
office located in Waveland. Exchange fiber was extended from the
Magazine exchange to the adjoining boundary with GTE and provided for
toll service. |
| In 1992, Magazine Telephone Company transferred to the new digital
central office that was installed in the newly remodeled central office.
Blue Mountain's exchange was also converted to digital. Later in the
same year, the circuits between Magazine and the Blue Mountain office
were placed on the new fiber optic cable. |
| Continuing the modernization, a digital central office was placed in
service at Waveland. |
| The GTE toll circuits were placed on fiber optic cable from Magazine
to Russelville. This occurred in 1993 and distinguished Magazine
Telephone company as one of the first telephone companies in Arkansas to
have an all digital optic fiber network. |
| In 1988 Magazine Telephone, along with other telephone companies,
formed a limited partnership with Alltel Cellular to serve the areas of
Arkansas with cellular telephones. Magazine Telephone now has cellular
service from Memphis through Jonesboro to Little Rock, down through Hot
Springs, along I40 to Clarksville, and along U.S. 65 from Conway to the
Missouri border. Additional equipment placement is well under way to
eliminate areas with poor signal quality. |
| The Stone family has grown in size and at the present time, Magazine
Telephone Company has eight family members employed by the Company. We
all have different areas of responsibility, however we are all ready to
serve your communications needs. Kathy and I have thirteen grandchildren
and three great grandchildren. We plan to be around for a long time. Our
telephone numbers are in the directory and on our web site at
www.magtel.com. If you have a problem, please let us know. Your problem
is our problem and we want to solve it for you. Thanks for allowing us
to serve you. |