Historical Notes
about
Blue Mountain Mutual Telephone Company
Service area: In Kings County. The Blue Mountain MT Co. connected to the North American telephone network at the MT&T Kentville Exchange.
In April 1922, the Public Utilities Board reported that:
The Blue Mountain MT Co. operates a telephone line between the residence of one Costley at Aldersville, Kings County, and the Kentville Exchange of MT&T. The New Ross Tel. Co. Ltd. owns and operates a telephone line from New Ross to Costley's residence at Aldersville. The line from New Ross, and the line from Kentville, both terminate in the same building, but there is no connection between the two lines. It is this connection, by means of a switch, "which is now sought in order that the subscribers of the New Ross Tel. Co. may have connection" with the MT&T Kentville Exchange over the Blue Mountain MT Co. line. The New Ross Tel. Co. proposes to install a switch in the Costley house; this switch will normally remain open (no connection) but will be closed to provide a connection between the two lines when required. An operator will be provided to close the switch when needed.
At present, for New Ross Tel. Co. customers in Aldersville to call Kentville, these messages have to be sent by way of New Ross, Chester, and Halifax. The rate is 90 cents, but the rate between Aldersville and Kentville would be reduced to 35 cents per call if they were routed by the direct Blue Mountain MT Co. line.
Blue Mountain MT Co. was incorporated in 1914 under the Rural Telephone Act. After it was incorporated, Blue Mountain built its own pole line from Costley's to Patterson's, a distance of about 10 miles. From Patterson's to Kentville, a distance of about 6 miles, its wires are carried on poles owned by the South Alton Rural Tel. Co., and Blue Mountain pays South Alton the "ordinary pole rental" rate.
Blue Mountain MT Co. has 15 suscribers, all of them located along that portion of line between Costley's and Patterson's. At the present time (April 1922) Blue Mountain's subscribers have direct connection with MT&T at the Kentville Exchange, and receive continuous (24-hour) service.
From MT&T records, it appears that for the months of June and July 1921, there were only eight calls to Kentville from the whole of the New Ross Tel. Co. system.
On 1 April 1958, the Blue Mountain MT Co. put into effect a new rate schedule, $3.15 per month for each telephone. The company's share of the charge for each long-distance call to or from any point on its line was 10 cents.
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First uploaded to the WWW: 1996 December 01
Latest update: 2006 December 06