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Hillsboro, MO, AT&T Long Lines site

AUTOVON/Echo-Fox ground entry point, L5 western terminal site

Coordinates: A: 38°19'32.40" N, 90°31'41.80" W (38.32567 N, 90.52828 W)
B: 38°19'30.9" N, 90°31'42.80" W (38.32525 N, 90.52856 W)

Antenna Structure Registration (ASR): A: 1005496; B: 1279684

Height (overall): A: 88.7 meters (291.01 feet); B: 74.4 meters (244.09 feet)

Current owner: AT&T

Currently in use? Yes, site has AT&T cell repeaters. Building in use by AT&T.

Horn antennas? Yes. Tower A — KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas (x7), AUTOVON/Combat Ciders ground entry point antennas (x3), Echo-Fox antenna. Tower B — KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas (x2), AUTOVON/Combat Ciders ground entry point antennas (x4, one missing)

Original hops: 1960 — Gray Summit (NW, telephone only); St. Louis CO (NE, telephone only); Waterloo, Illinois (ENE, telephone only); Lawrenceton (SE, telephone only)

Later hops: 1979 — Richwoods

Of the more than 70 former AT&T Long Lines sites in Missouri, Hillsboro in Jefferson County could easily be called the "holy grail."

The AT&T Long Lines site about seven miles north of Hillsboro along Route 21 was a critical site, not only for its microwave capabilities. The site was a major switching hub and the western terminal of the L5 coaxial route. Most importantly, however, were the eight orange antennas spread across both towers and the lone UHF antenna array atop the northern tower (which I refer to as the "A" tower). The eight orange antennas were used for the Combat Ciders secure radio system that communicated with Air Force Once — the aircraft carrying the United States president.

Hillsboro also housed a cesium fountain clock used to keep precise time within the telephone network.

In 1960, all microwave routes through Hillsboro only handled telephone traffic. Hops in 1960 were northwest to Gray Summit, northeast to the downtown St. Louis central office, east-northeast to Waterloo, Illinois, and southeast to Lawrenceton. By 1966, television traffic had been introduced along the St. Louis-Hollister and Hillsboro-Campbell routes, which included Hillsboro's hops to the St. Louis CO, Lawrenceton and Shirley. (The "St. Louis ring route" remained telephone only, which included Hillsboro's Gray Summit and Waterloo hops.) A southwest hop to Richwoods was added between 1966 and 1979. (It is unknown whether that hop carried telephone traffic only, or both telephone and television traffic.)

The former microwave links are dead, but AT&T still owns and operates the property. According to someone on the Long Lines Facebook Group, Hillsboro still has active fiber optic links to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Cape Girardeau and Creve Coeur. There are many fiber optics cable markers in the vicinity, along with "surveillance zone" warning signs around the property perimeter. The aforementioned commenter said the underground building has been abandoned by AT&T.

Photos: October 17, 2024

Click on a photo to view a higher-resolution version in a new browser tab.

AT&T sign

The front entrance sign featuring the modern AT&T globe logo.

Northern tower with base building

Northern ("A") tower, which features seven KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas, two AUTOVON Combat Ciders ground entry point antennas, and the UHF Echo-Foxtrot antenna. Modern cell repeater antennas for use with AT&T's mobile network are also seen. There used to be nine KS-15676 antennas, two have been removed. The top left horn was likely used for the Waterloo, Illinois, hop. The hop for the top right horn is unknown, since it is pointed north-northwest at a different angle than the two lower KS-15676 horns for the Gray Summit hop on the right side of the tower. The two KS-15676 horn antennas on the opposite side of the tower, facing away from the camera, were for the later hop to Richwoods.

Warning sign

A "Warning" sign identical to those found at remote repeater sites is also found at Hillsboro, along with "surveillance area" signs.

Modern phone boxes

Modern telephone interface boxes are seen outside the Hillsboro site off Old Route 21.

Fiber optics cable marker

A Southwestern Bell fiber optics cable marker running outside the Hillsboro site, parallel to Old Route 21.

Bell manhole cover

A manhole cover featuring the last Bell System logo, designed by Saul Bass and used from 1969 until the Bell System's divestiture in 1984. It was subsequently used by many of the "Baby Bells" — former Regional Bell Operating Companies, such as Southwestern Bell, that continued operation following divestiture. Dennis Ritchie, a Bell Labs employee known for creating the C programming language and co-developing the Unix operating system there, called this version of the logo the "Wehrmacht Helmet." AT&T themselves were forced to change logos after the divestiture, forcing them to use the "death star" globe logo originally designed for use on its computer systems and the short-lived American Bell division. This manhole is under a fiber optics cable marker featuring the same logo with the Southwestern Bell branding.

Fiber optics cable marker

A newer cable marker featuring the newer "death star" AT&T logo used after the divestiture.

Northern tower

Northern tower seen from the south this time. In this photo, the top left horn would have been aimed southeast toward Lawrenceton. The top right horn would likely have been aimed east-northeast at Waterloo, Illinois. The lower set of KS-15676 horns on the left are aimed at Richwoods, and the horns on the opposite side are pointed at Gray Summit.

Two towers together

The two towers seen together. The southern tower, or "B" tower, only has two horn-reflectors still remaining but four AUTOVON Combat Ciders antennas. No modern antennas appear to be on the southern tower. The northern tower still has seven of its nine original KS-15676 horns, in addition to two more AUTOVON Combat Ciders antennas and the Echo-Fox antenna.

Southern base building

A lower view shows the base of the southern tower along with its remaining two KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas, which also appear to be aimed southwest toward Richwoods. An archived photo on the Long Lines Facebook Group reveals what the base station seen in the photo looked like before it was overgrown with vegetation. A "blast shield" is still visible on the left side of the photo. The archived photo shows the conical nuclear detonation detectors as being on the opposite side of the blast shield.

Northern tower

This view of the northern tower, again from the site entrance/parking lot, really shows the two AUTOVON Combat Ciders antennas (orange antennas on two edges of the top-most platform) and the sole UHF antenna for the Echo-Foxtrot system (left of right AUTOVON antenna, above right edge of KS-15676 antenna facing camera on top). The KS-15676 horn antennas for Gray Summit, along with a parabolic dish used for that hop for spatial diversity, are also seen along with modern cell repeater antennas.

Base station building entrance

Main entrance to the base station building, which has a van featuring AT&T's latest logo along with two private vehicles parked on a lot inside a "surveillance area."

Bird with northern tower and base station

Map

Links


Missouri AT&T Long Lines sites

AullvilleBarnettBrinktownCole CampDaytonDoverGray SummitHalifaxHermannHillsboroHoldenHolts SummitJefferson City (CO)Kansas City (CO)LawrencetonOak GrovePrairie HomeRichwoodsRosatiSlaterWindsor


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