Industry Telecommunications Defunct 2009 Founded 1895 Ceased operations 2009 | Fate Merged Website www.malheurbell.net Successor Qwest Corporation Parent organization Qwest Corporation | |
Products Local Telephone Service Headquarters Ontario, Oregon, United States | ||
Malheur Home Telephone Company, commonly known as Malheur Bell, was a rural telephone company operating in Oregon. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Qwest Corporation, the Bell Operating Company of Qwest Communications International.
History
It was founded in 1895 to serve Malheur County, Oregon (then located in Sunset Telephone and Telegraph territory). A controlling interest was purchased by Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company in 1899, in exchange for Malheur's purchase of the toll line Rocky Mountain Bell laid to connect Malheur to the rest of the telephone network. It continued to remain an independent operation of The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, formed when Rocky Mountain Bell merged with several other telephone companies throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Malheur Bell was located in a state served by Pacific Telephone & Telegraph.
By 1984, Mountain Bell had acquired 100% of the company's stock, and Malheur continued to operate independently of Mountain Bell. At this point it was located within Pacific Northwest Bell territory, split from Pacific Telephone in the 1960s. PNB became a sister Bell Operating Company of Mountain Bell under US West ownership in 1984. In 1991, US West merged its operating companies into Mountain Bell, renamed US West Communications; however, Malheur Bell remained independent of the rest of US West operations, and continued to use the Bell trademark.
In 2000, US West was acquired by Qwest, and US West Communications was renamed Qwest Corporation. Malheur Bell, however, continued to operate independently of its parent until its operations were fully integrated in Quest Corporation on December 14, 2009. Malheur Bell was the last remaining company formerly part of the Bell System that continued to use the Bell logo in its official corporate logo.