About SCTC : History
The first phone of record in Stayton, Oregon was that of J.M. Kitchen, MD, on August 2, 1901 on the corner of Second and High Streets. His phone number was "23".On March 8, 1905 the Stayton Mutual Telephone Company was organized to provide telephone service for the town of Stayton.
In 1914 the Stayton Switchboard Association was formed to handle the switching and long distance services for the community. Prior to the consolidation of the lines in 1955, there were 18 separate associations, mutuals, etc. providing telephone service to the Stayton area. Some of these included; Stayton Mutual, Sublimity Whiteline, Lone Oak Co., Yeonan Line Scio Line, Lambert Whitney Line, West Stayton Line, Fern Ridge Co., Jordan Line, Kingston Line and Sublimity Telephone Company.
Stayton Cooperative Telephone Company was incorporated in 1955. This consolidated all of the Stayton area phone service providers into one company.
SCTC Historical Timeline
1901 - The first phone of record in Stayton was that of J.M. Kitchen, MD, on August 2, 1901 on the corner of Second and High Streets. His phone number was 23.
1905 - On March 8, The Stayton Mutual Telephone Company was organized to provide telephone service for the town of Stayton. Failing in an attempt to buy a line already in town, the Company built their own line. As more lines were built, a method of switching from one line to another was found.
1914 - The Stayton Switch Board Association was formed to handle the switching and long distance of the community. Companies at this time were Stayton Mutual, Sublimity Whiteline, Lone Oak Co., Kingston Short Line, Yeonan Line, Scio Line, Lambert Whitney Line, West Stayton Line, Fern Ridge Co., Jordan #2, Kingston Line and Sublimity Telephone Co. Later there were a total of 18 companies.
1955 - Stayton Cooperative Telephone Company was incorporated on January 14th. All existing lines and property of the existing 18 companies were incorporated at a total value of $15,423. The incorporators and first Directors were G.A. Sandner, Merle Crane, Gus Kirsch, Ed Bell, Mike Benedict, George Tate and Irvin Parberry. The Company equipment at this time was magneto (crank telephones) and common battery.
1958 - A Stromberg-Carlson XY Step Switching System was installed and we converted to dial telephone service.
1962 - The Columbus Day Storm on October 12th put more than half of our customers out of service.
1968 - The first buried cable was put into service. With buried cable, our Company could withstand a natural disaster like the 1962 Columbus Day Storm with virtually no trouble
1969 - An Electronic Register Sender was installed to enhance the capabilities of the XY Switching System.
1976 - Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) was provided to customers in our area; these phones were installed in all types of cars, trucks and farm equipment.
1977 - We installed our first computer, a Lockheed System III.
1979 - Limited, tone-only paging service was offered to Stayton customers.
1980 - In January, our new warehouse was completed across the river on Kingston-Jordan Road in Linn County.
1981 - SCS Communications & Security, Inc. was formed on July 15th to provide telephones, equipment and alarm systems. On August 1st, we changed our Central Office equipment to a DMS100/200 Electronic Digital Switching System, offering many new services to our customers.
1982 - Our first subscribers to cable television were hooked up in February. In October, we installed an IBM System 38 computer.
1985 - On May 30th, Western Cellular, Inc. was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCTC and invested in cellular service areas throughout Oregon. Ownership was later transferred to SCS.
Western Teledata, Inc. was incorporated on September 12th. The company was formed to provide a wide array of data processing services for independent telephone companies.
In December, our first fiber optic system was in service from Stayton to Scio.
1986 - At our Annual Meeting, March 27th, Gus Kirsch retired from the Board of Directors. Not only did Gus help found the Company, he played a key role in decision making over all the years. The Board voted unanimously to retain him as a lifetime advisor.
1988 - Our Engineering Department installed Autocad, a digitized mapping system.
1989 - On November 8th, the Board of Directors decided to retire Capital Credits through1980 for all our members.
On December 13th, the Board decided to pay Capital Credits (upon request) in full to all those members aged seventy and older.
1990 - All toll routes out of Stayton, with the exception of an overflow route to Salem, were fiber optic.
1992 - Our Equal Access (regulated by the FCC) conversion process began on April 26th. The actual completion of our conversion was October 23rd. This gave our subscribers the opportunity to choose their own long distance carrier.
1994 - Extended Area Service (EAS) from Stayton to Salem was approved on November 5th.
1995 - In January, Willamette Valley Internet (WVI) was formed with Scio Mutual Telephone Association as a partner. On July 1st, we purchased cable television properties from Northland Cable Television, including Lyons, Mehama, Mill City, Gates, Idanha, Detroit and Turner.
1997 - On May 15th, we purchased People’s Telephone Co. in Lyons. A remodel of our Business Office was completed in December and on December 22nd we dedicated the building to Gus Kirsch.
1998 - The Stayton / Sublimity Chamber of Commerce named SCTC 1997 Business of the Year.
In August, an additional prefix (767) was approved for our area.