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​The first telephones in Lanark Township were installed in William Croft’s store in Middleville and James Herron’s house in Herron’s Mills in 1897. Eleven years later, in 1908, the Hopetown Telephone Company was established and a phone was installed in the home of A.J. McDougall. The following year, there was an expansion with more telephones being installed in the area. Lines were extended to Brightside and McNichol’s Mill. Next, a connection was made from Lanark to Pinegrove, Ferguson’s Falls and Prestonvale. In 1915-16, Joe’s Lake, Clyde Forks and White were connected. An interesting notice was published in 1921, informing telephone customers that service would not be available after 8 pm in the evenings during the winter months beginning December 1st. Imagine being disconnected from friends and neighbours every night for months. We would surely find this most inconvenient in our lives of high connectivity these days. In 1971, ownership of telephone service to the local areas was transferred to Bell. At this time, the service was dial. The Middleville and District Museum has a telephone from the home of Lawrence and Agnes Gibson of Hopetown. Lawrence worked as a linesman for the Hopetown Telephone Company from 1932 to 1954 and the Museum displays his pole climbing gear including a belt and spurs. Museum visitors can view a telephone switchboard and several models of telephones developed through the decades. 

partial map of the Hopetown Telephone Company pole route

telephone switchboard similar to the one used in Hopetown

Arnold Gibson's climbing gear

Arnold Gibson climbing a pole