AT+T Microwave Relay and Powell's Books

This tower is almost certainly an old AT+T microwave relay station, back when long-distance traffic was uncommon enough that microwave links were sufficient to connect the nation. Each of these relays was in sight of its neighbors.

The network was designed and built during the cold war, and towers were placed in sheltered areas where possible, with a view of the next tower, but hills blocking all other directions to protect the station in the event of a nuclear attack.

The relay stations used vacuum-tube radio gear that required constant supervision and tuning, so there was round-the-clock staffing at these relays, even the remote ones.

By the time the book in the window, The pushbutton telephone songbook, was published, transistors had replaced tubes and the stations could now be operated remotely, with only occasional service visits.

Today, with the nation connected by wire and fiber, many of these towers are inactive or used as locations for cell phone antennas.