2018.018.084 [Insulator, Communication]

While glass insulators were more popular in the United States in Telecommunications development, porcelain was also used during the second half of the 19th century. This porcelain insulator bares a strong resemblance to several different identified styles of insulator but does not have a significant match within the database maintained by collectors. Those similar insulators were used to protect the juncture of several wires. Telegraphs were first introduced to Iowa in 1848 with a line connecting Dubuque, Keokuk, Burlington, Bloomington (Muscatine), Iowa City, and Davenport, Iowa to Peru, Illinois. By 1861, two telegraph companies were responsible for the Iowa lines, Western Union Telegraph Company and the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company. Western Union Telegraph was also responsible for the earliest telephone lines introduced to Iowa with the first exchange being built in Keokuk, Iowa in 1878 along with exchanges in Des Moines, Davenport, and Ottumwa. Western Union would sell to the Bell Company in 1879 and Bell would construct its first exchange in Dubuque in the same year. Bell Company would establish several smaller companies to aid in the management of the Telephone lines including Hawkeye Telephone, Iowa Union Telephone, and Iowa & Minnesota Telephone. Hawkeye Telephone established the telecommunications in Cedar Falls and Waterloo Iowa in 1881. For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.