“In February of 1951, more than 400 farmers from Ramsey, Towner, Cavalier, Nelson, and Benson counties met in Devils Lake, North Dakota to discuss forming a rural telephone cooperative. An 11-man organizing committee was elected.”

A little more than a year later, the organization was incorporated as United Telephone Mutual Aid Corporation. With the help of REA loans, the co-op purchased existing phone exchanges at Langdon, Osnabrock, Milton, Sarles and Hanna, plus eight farmer owned lines.

In 1958, Langdon became the first United Telephone community to receive modern dial service. In the next two years Sarles, Milton, Wales, Munich, Walhalla, Rock Lake and Egeland got dial phones. The system’s changeover to dial telephone service was completed on this date in 1960.

Source:
http://www.utma.com/History.htm

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