The Hollands Grove Phone Tower

We've all seen it.  The large tower is at the intersection of Holland's Grove Road and Boyd Parkway.  But Who?  When?  What?  Why?

The tower actually predates the construction of McCluggage Road. In the early 1950s, AT&T and Bell Telephone constructed microwave radio towers for long-distance telephone calls and television signals. Today, unless the tower has been repurposed as a cell phone tower, all these sites across the country are obsolete.

The Washington tower, 300 feet tall, was constructed by Bell Telephone in early 1963 to connect Benson, Peoria, Delavan, and Lake Fork. It is the tallest in the chain of towers between Peoria and Chicago.

In 1961, there were some domestic terror activities involving blowing up phone towers in parts of the country.  As a result, the concrete bunker at the tower is constructed of blast-resistant concrete.

In 1984, Illinois Bell sold the property to AT&T, and it assumed the tower is now used for cellular connection.