The Associated Telephone Utilities Company was a

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

-based power company that went bankrupt in 1933, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

.GTE Corporation. (2011)
From Encyclopædia Britannica
Retrieved on September 13, 2001 Prior to the Depression, the utility was a prominent player in the electrical power business in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. An appeal by receivers appointed for the Associated Telephone Utilities Company was filed around April 1933, contesting the bankruptcy of the utility, and it was reorganized in 1934 as

General Telephone GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furt ...

. A

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

in a

court of chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

permitted the petition to be filed in

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...

Utility history

The Associated Telephone Utilities Company was founded in Wisconsin in 1926 by Sigurd Odegard. The company acquired the Indiana Telegraph Securities Company and its subsidiary companies in August 1929. The purchased utility operated 9,819 stations in

Logansport, Indiana Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash River, Wabash an ...

, and

Greencastle, Indiana Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It is located near Interstate 70 approximately halfway between Terre Haute and Indianapolis in the west-central portion ...

. The Associated Telephone Utilities Company increased its budget for 1930 to $7,000,000, an increase of 40%. It invested $3,047,000 of this sum in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, with $2,493,850 spent in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and the surrounding region. $553,500 was divided among

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Five

telephone operating companies were purchased by the Associated Telephone Utilities Company in August 1930. These utilities were consolidated with the Wisconsin properties of the Associated Telephone Utilities system. A one-month sales campaign resulted in the addition of 1,040 phones in August 1931. During this period the Midwestern utility worked in unison with the Associated Telephone Utilities System in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. For the year ending December 31, 1932, the firm realized a profit of $13,305 after taxes.''Telephone Company Earns $13,305 In Year'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', June 23, 1933, pg. 7.

References

Technology companies disestablished in 1933 Defunct companies based in Wisconsin Telecommunications companies established in 1926 1926 establishments in Wisconsin 1933 disestablishments in Wisconsin