In 1954, AT&T constructed an unmanned microwave repeater site in rural norther Lafayette County, Missouri, on U.S. 24 between Dover and Waverly. The site initially consisted of a basic white concrete block base station, which was found at most stations along the Kansas City-St. Louis microwave relay route. Outside, a 246-foot tower would have supported four delay lens antennas — one pair pointed northwest at Elkhorn, and the other pair pointed east at Slater. FCC records indicate the tower was constructed October 1, 1954.
In the later 1950s, an additional microwave route was added at Dover. This spur route to Aullville was telephone-only, unlike the Kansas City-St.Louis route that carried both telephone and television traffic. According to FCC records, the Aullville tower was built in summer 1958, and a March 1960 Long Lines map showed the link as in service.
The March 1960 map reveals another spur route was under construction to complete what would be a telephone-only route between La Cygne, Kansas, and Helena, Missouri. The Aullville route brought online in 1958/59 would have been the southern hop from Dover along this route, with Knoxville being the northern hop. It was around this time the original KS-5759 delay lens antennas would have been swapped for the newer, “iconic” KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas that would have increased capacity.
To handle the additional traffic, Dover’s base station was expanded with a more “semi-hardened” design of solid concrete walls akin to base stations found along the Kansas City-Halifax route. The design of the expansion is similar to an expansion found at Gray Summit.
Today, the Dover site is owned by American Tower Corporation, who in turn leases spot on the tower for wireless companies like AT&T Mobility. The horn-reflector antennas once found on the tower have been replaced with modern shrouded parabolic antennas and cellular antennas.
Photos: February 27, 2025
Site seen from the west on Hitt School Road.Site base station. The original building, built around 1953, is seen on the right. A concrete addition (with windows) was later added to the east of the original structure.Original portion of the base station.North side of the concrete base station addition.Window on the northern side of the base station, which has been covered from the outside and inside.Part of the newer addition to the base station. The main entrance to the facility is seen on the right.Southern side of the base station. It appears the facility was expanded a third time, as another concrete portion was built east of the center portion.Telephone network interface box with front panel removed (panel found on the ground.)Inside the telephone network interface box.Generator exhaust stack seen inside the “blast shield.” The generator air intake can be seen right of the stack bottom. (I can only wonder what type of generator this site has.)A view into the tower area on the southern side of the base station. The waveguide racks lead into the oldest (1953) portion of the base station.Looking up the eastern side of the tower, with the shrouded parabolic antennas seen.Top section of the tower, with the AT&T Mobility cell antennas visible at top.Modern concrete base station for AT&T Mobility equipment.Site identification posted on the tower area fence.AT&T Mobility sign posted on the modern concrete base station. It identifies the site as “Higdon Lake.”Notice posted on the tower area fence outside the modern base station used by AT&T Mobility.Kohler diesel backup generator seen outside the modern base station used by AT&T Mobility.AT&T Mobility sticker on the Kohler generator.
Photo: October 2023
A friend’s wedding brought me close to the Dover site, so I decided to pass by the site afterward. While it was unfortunately dark, my iPhone SE’s camera did a decent job at capturing a silhouette of the tower in the cloudy night sky. I captured a couple shots of the obstruction light, which I edited into an animated GIF.
A couple shots of the Dover, Missouri, AT&T Long Lines site at night were edited together into an animated GIF. One shot features the white FAA obstruction strobe atop the tower.
I considered returning the following day, but with weather and other plans I passed. I may revisit this site at some point during the day. In the meantime, Randy’s photos below suffice.
Submitted (R. Vanscoy) Photos: July 2021
These photos were submitted on a Long Lines Facebook group by Randy Vanscoy, a field engineer for the Missouri State Highway Patrol who also operates many of their ex-Long Lines MOSWIN sites (such as Aullville, Windsor, and Brinktown.) Special thanks to Randy for allowing me to republish these photos here.
The site is located off MO-24 outside of Dover, a small town in rural Lafayette County between Waverly and Lexington, north of Higginsville.The “newer” portion of the building, which consists of a concrete “semi-hardened” building. Oddly, the building featured windows – which was unusual for this building design.One of the many entrances to the building, through another newer part of the building.An intercom and door bell located near an entrance to the building. The site was unmanned and these likely were relayed to the regional office in downtown Kansas City.This photo shows the difference between the original, white block building and the “semi-hardened” concrete building.Another entrance to the semi-hardened addition. To the left of the doors is the “blast shield” – a regular feature of the semi-hardened buildings. The blast shield protected ventilation and other vulnerable parts from nuclear fallout, in the event of a nuclear weapon detonation.A closer view of what’s behind the blast shield: a ventilation intake for the generator, and the exhaust for the generator. Most similar Long Lines sites featured a diesel General Motors genset, designed to keep the facility operational in the event of a power failure.Signage for the tower, indicating the ASR number and current owner – American Tower. The site may be used as a cell site, as indicated by the RF notice.A look at the waveguide cage, along with where they would enter into the building.Finally, a look at the tower itself. The tower hopped to Elkhorn to the west-northwest, Knoxville to the northwest, Slater to the east (top platform, facing camera), and Aullville to the south-southwest.Another view of the tower.
Special thanks to Randy Vanscoy for providing these photos, along with the permission to republish.
