DirectLink Logo

120 Year Anniversary

Part 2: 1960s - Present

DirectLink is 120 years old! We want to take you through the history of DirectLink and how Canby Telephone Association and Mt. Angel Telephone evolved over the years and eventually came together. Decade by decade.

Click here for part 1 (1900-1950s)

1960 - 1969
Young woman from the 60s sitting in a vintage ball chair. Credit: iStock.

US Landline Adoption 1960

78.5%
1960 Phone Image

Coming out of the 1950s, the DirectLink cooperative served 1,898 members with direct dial telephone service throughout the exchange. This now included Extended Area Service (EAS) routes to Woodburn, Molalla, Aurora, Monitor, and Colton. Demand for telephone service continued to climb steadily – 78% of U.S. households had a telephone in 1960, up from 62% in 1950.

While small independent or cooperative companies like DirectLink served rural areas, AT&T’s Bell telephone operations covered bigger cities like Portland and their surrounding suburban neighborhoods. In 1961, Oregon and Washington Bell telephone operations merged to create Pacific Northwest Bell. They had 300,000 subscribers in Portland by 1964 and over 600,000 throughout the state.

Oregon Fun Facts of the 1960s:

Roseburg Oregon 1960

1960: U.S. census counts 1,768,687 Oregon residents.

Terry Baker 1962

1962: Terry Baker is Oregon’s 1st Heisman Trophy winner.

Suburbia Art
Suburbia, art by Carl Evers.

More and more people began moving to the suburbs with the rise of the automobile and expanding road systems. Smaller telephone companies once again faced increased demand for their services with this new influx of people. Some struggled to update their aging systems, many of which still included party lines. DirectLink, however, worked hard to adopt new technologies to provide the best service possible.

Expecting the unexpected is always good business practice, but nobody could have predicted the damage from the Columbus Day Storm of 1962. On October 12, an extreme storm hit the West Coast with the force of a Category 3 hurricane. It ended up being the most destructive and costly storm in Oregon history. 80 percent of all DirectLink members were without service for weeks – historical documents show that most were reconnected by November 2 thanks to round-the-clock work by local crews.

Fun Facts of the 1960s:

Voting Rights Act 1965

1965: Congress passes the Voting Rights Act.

Oregon Beach Bill 1967

1967: Beach Bill is approved, ensuring public access to all of Oregon’s coastal beaches.

Switchboard Operators
1960s Computer Office. Credit: Library of Congress

People and businesses recovered, and improvements continued. 1968 saw the conversion to automatic number identification (ANI), which meant that operators no longer needed to manually ask for phone numbers on long distance calls. By the end of the 1960s, over 90% of all U.S. households had a telephone at home.

Carterfone

The development of computers and other technology continued with rapid innovation. In 1966, the Carterfone was introduced – it acoustically connected two-way radios to the telephone network, allowing someone on the radio to talk to someone on the phone. This invention helped pave the way for future devices to use the telephone network, like answering machines, fax machines, and modems.

Fun Fact of the 1960s:

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1969: Department of Environmental Quality is created.

Thanks for Reading

Come back next month to see more of DirectLink's history. We'll be adding more segments every month, decade by decade.

Music

"In The Saloon" by PianoAmor from Pixabay

"Hyperfun" Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

"Poppers and Prosecco" Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

"On Hold for You" Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

"Lazy Bones Cheesy Jazz" by Geoff Harvey from Pixabay

"Ghost 50s Track" by James Milor from Pixabay

"British Invasion" by Vasileios Ziogas from Pixabay

Play music from this decade.

"British Invasion" by Vasileios Ziogas from Pixabay

DirectLink
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1960 - 1969
DirectLink Logo

120 Year Anniversary

Part 2: 1960s - Present

DirectLink is 120 years old! We want to take you through the history of DirectLink and how Canby Telephone Association and Mt. Angel Telephone Company evolved over the years and eventually came together. Decade by decade.

Click here for part 1 (1900-1950s)

Slide #01: Young woman from the 60s sitting in a vintage ball chair. Credit: iStock.

Coming out of the 1950s, the DirectLink cooperative served 1,898 members with direct dial telephone service throughout the exchange. This now included Extended Area Service (EAS) routes to Woodburn, Molalla, Aurora, Monitor, and Colton. Demand for telephone service continued to climb steadily – 78% of U.S. households had a telephone in 1960, up from 62% in 1950.

While small independent or cooperative companies like DirectLink served rural areas, AT&T’s Bell telephone operations covered bigger cities like Portland and their surrounding suburban neighborhoods. In 1961, Oregon and Washington Bell telephone operations merged to create Pacific Northwest Bell. They had 300,000 subscribers in Portland by 1964 and over 600,000 throughout the state.

Oregon Fun Facts of the 1960s

1960: U.S. census counts 1,768,687 Oregon residents.

1962: Terry Baker is Oregon’s 1st Heisman Trophy winner.

Slide #03: Suburbia, art by Carl Evers.
Slide #04: Oregon Columbus Day Storm. Credit Seattle Municipal Archives.

More and more people began moving to the suburbs with the rise of the automobile and expanding road systems. Smaller telephone companies once again faced increased demand for their services with this new influx of people. Some struggled to update their aging systems, many of which still included party lines. DirectLink, however, worked hard to adopt new technologies to provide the best service possible.

Expecting the unexpected is always good business practice, but nobody could have predicted the damage from the Columbus Day Storm of 1962. On October 12, an extreme storm hit the West Coast with the force of a Category 3 hurricane. It ended up being the most destructive and costly storm in Oregon history. 80 percent of all DirectLink members were without service for weeks – historical documents show that most were reconnected by November 2 thanks to round-the-clock work by local crews.

Fun Facts of the 1960s

1965: Congress passes the Voting Rights Act.

1967: Beach Bill is approved, ensuring public access to all of Oregon’s coastal beaches.

Slide #05: 1960s Computer Office. Credit: Library of Congress

People and businesses recovered, and improvements continued. 1968 saw the conversion to automatic number identification (ANI), which meant that operators no longer needed to manually ask for phone numbers on long distance calls. By the end of the 1960s, over 90% of all U.S. households had a telephone at home.

Carterfone

The development of computers and other technology continued with rapid innovation. In 1966, the Carterfone was introduced – it acoustically connected two-way radios to the telephone network, allowing someone on the radio to talk to someone on the phone. This invention helped pave the way for future devices to use the telephone network, like answering machines, fax machines, and modems.

Fun Fact of the 1960s

1969: Department of Environmental Quality is created.

DirectLink

Thanks for reading!

Come back next month to see more of DirectLink's history. We'll be adding more segments every month, decade by decade.

Music

"In The Saloon" by PianoAmor from Pixabay

"Hyperfun" Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

"Poppers and Prosecco" Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

"On Hold for You" Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

"Lazy Bones Cheesy Jazz" by Geoff Harvey from Pixabay

"Ghost 50s Track" by James Milor from Pixabay

"British Invasion" by Vasileios Ziogas from Pixabay