The Interior Telephone Company Building is a historic structure located in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. Iowa was one of the leading

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

states to adopt the telephone as a means of communication. By 1920 86% of the state's farms had a telephone. The Interior Telephone Company was established to serve the Grinnell area. It was one of two companies to provide the service locally, and one of 500 independent telephone companies that provided local service and connected to the

Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over one hundr ...

for long distance. Interior Telephone built this building to house its operations in 1912. It is a one-story brick structure built over a raised basement. The telephone equipment was housed in the basement, and office space was located on the main floor. The building was built to stand apart from the surrounding buildings, perhaps as a means for fire protection. The company's initials, I.T.C., are part of the brickwork on both side of the building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

References

Office buildings completed in 1912 Commercial architecture in Iowa Grinnell, Iowa Buildings and structures in Poweshiek County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Poweshiek County, Iowa Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Telecommunications buildings on the National Register of Historic Places {{PoweshiekCountyIA-NRHP-stub