Southwestern Bell - History

History

Southwestern Bell Telephone traces its roots to The Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company which was founded in 1882. It was consolidated under the management of a single management unit of the Bell System with Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company of Texas-Arkansas, Pioneer Telephone and Telegraph Company of Oklahoma, and The Bell Telephone Company of Missouri—also called The Missouri Bell Telephone Company—on March 1, 1912. These companies comprised the "Southwestern System" of the Bell System. The latter three companies were legally merged into Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company in 1917, which was renamed Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.

The company was often considered the first step of the AT&T corporate "ladder" before the 1984 breakup of that company. While part of the Bell System, it was at times the biggest Bell Operating Company of the 22 AT&T owned.

Southwestern Bell continued to grow in size when it absorbed several smaller telephone companies. In 1950, the company absorbed the operations of Southeast Missouri Telephone Company, which had been formerly named Cape Girardeau Bell Telephone Company. In 1952, the company absorbed the operations of the Southwest Telephone Company, which served Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. In 1953, it absorbed the Ozark Central Telephone Company

Southwestern Bell also provides service to Kaskaskia and McClure, Illinois, as those cities are located on the west side of the Mississippi River.