Harvey C. Couch - Business Career

Business Career

While still working on the railway post office route from McNeil, Arkansas, into north Louisiana, Couch was exposed to the development of the long-distance telephone. In partnership with the postmasters of McNeil, and Bienville, Louisiana, Couch formed the North Louisiana Telephone Company. From this beginning just after the turn of the century, the company eventually constructed more than 1,500 miles of line, serving fifty exchanges in four states. In 1911, the company was sold to Southwestern Bell Telephone Company at a price which gave Couch a profit of over $1 million. His business interests in Louisiana brought Couch into political alliance with Huey Pierce Long, Jr., the flamboyant governor and United States senator.

By the time North Louisiana Telephone had been sold, Couch was already exploring the possibilities of developing a similar interconnected electric utility system. Both Malvern and Arkadelphia, had awarded franchises for citywide electric utilities, and in both cities, the utility companies had failed. Couch proposed a partnership with Arkansas Land & Lumber Company, a large sawmill operation in Malvern, whereby sawdust and waste material purchased from the sawmill would be used to fuel boilers, producing steam for two 550-kilowatt turbines to generate electric power. The new system, a predecessor of Arkansas Power and Light Company (AP&L), became operational on December 18, 1914, providing Malvern and Arkadelphia with 24-hour electric service for the first time. In 1916, AP&L's second generating plant was opened in Russellville, the seat of Pope County in north central Arkansas. The plant was located adjacent to a coal field which provided a steady supply of fuel.

Under the leadership of Couch, AP&L continued purchasing city utility systems and building electric transmission lines throughout Arkansas. As demand for electric power increased, Couch began formalizing plans for hydroelectric development on the Ouachita River. The first of several such dams, Remmel Dam, was completed in December 1924. As the electric utility industry continued to prosper and expand in Arkansas, Couch began to devote some attention to his earlier interest, railroading. A group of investors, led by Couch, gained control of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway in early 1928. Couch became president of the Kansas City Southern Railway in 1939. Following Interstate Commerce Commission approval, the Kansas City Southern acquired the Louisiana and Arkansas, consolidating the separate railroad holdings of the Couch syndicate. Pete Couch, younger brother of Harvey Couch, assumed the presidency of both railroads.

In addition to his business interests, Harvey Couch continued in a variety of public service roles during the 1930s. The Great Depression dictated a greatly expanded government effort to encourage business, one such mechanism being the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). A board of seven directors was chosen to run the RFC, one of whom was Harvey Couch. Couch served as RFC director until he resigned in August 1934 to return to Arkansas. In 1936, Couch served as chairman of the Arkansas Centennial celebration and hosted U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, with whom Huey Long had quarreled, during FDR's visit to Arkansas.