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A History, part 2, PP&L
After the war, the image of the "company Town" began to change. Manufacturing companies began to divest themselves of operations that were not a part of their core business. The New Jersey Zinc Company management decided that they no longer wanted to be in the business of producing electricity and providing telephone service and a suitable buyer was sought for both the Palmer Lighting Company and Palmerton Telephone Company. That search ended in 1948 when Pennsylvania Power and Light Company of Allentown agreed to buy the Zinc Co.'s electric and telephone plants. At this time Palmerton Telephone Company served 1749 subscribers.
Although PP&L was primarily a supplier of electric service, they did not shy away from providing telephone service. Beginning in 1951 they embarked on a large scale plant improvement project at a cost of $450,000.00. A new central office building was constructed at 465 Delaware Avenue. This building was to house the company's business office, operators and new Step-by-Step switching equipment. The switching equipment then in use by the company was housed in the Zinc Company's administration building. This equipment was replaced by a 120 line, 200 terminal Step-by-Step Private Branch Exchange for the exclusive use of the Zinc Company. A new switching machine manufactured by Federal Telephone & Radio Corp. of Clifton, New Jersey was installed in the new building. The new switch machine had a capacity for 800 lines and 900 terminals thus increasing the company's ability to provide service to the community. A new four position switchboard was installed in the room adjacent to the switch. Now up to four operators could handle calls simultaneously. Although the operators had not been setting up local calls for many years, they were kept busy answering incoming calls for the Zinc Co. and connecting Palmerton subscribers to the rest of the world via toll lines. The total cost of the new Palmerton central office switch and the Zinc Co. PABX was $ 152,186.00.
 Between 1951 and 1955, PP&L rebuilt practically all of Palmerton Telephone Company's aging infrastructure. The underground conduit system in the main business district was improved and extended. New cables were placed in the underground system and aerial plant was also replaced with new cables. In addition to renewing outside plant in Palmerton proper, PP&L also rebuilt major portions of plant in Bowmanstown and Parryville thus improving service to those communities.
During World War II and the Korean War which followed closely behind, most materials were diverted for the war effort. This created a shortage of materials for consumer products and non-essential industries. One of the consequences of this shortage was that once the capacity of Palmerton's telephone system had been reached, no new subscribers could be connected to the system. Newspaper accounts of the period mention the fact that literally hundreds of people were on a waiting list for telephone service in Palmerton Telephone's service area. The company management promised that when all of the scheduled plant improvements were complete, that all those waiting for service would be accommodated.
Part 1 | Part 3
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