ANSLEY’s ELECTRIC-LIGHT, WATER, AND TELEPHONE SYSTEMS

Ansley was the first village of the state, west of Grand Island, to have both city water and electric lights. The Ansley Electric Light & Power Company’s plant was built and owned by C. J. Stevens and was enfranchised by the village, September 20, 1892. The waterworks company was organized and the plant completed in 1893. For this purpose, four thousand dollars’ worth of bonds were voted and issued in 1892. The light plant, however, was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1904. Peter W. McTaggart & Company succeeded the Electric Light & Power Company, October 1, 1906. This plant, in turn, was also destroyed by fire, April 13, 1910. It was succeeded by the Municipal Light & Power System, June 6, 1910. This latter plant was completed the following year, at the approximate cost of $21,000. The first telephone company in Ansley was known as the Central Telephone Company and the plant was installed in the year 1903. The first manager was A. L. Butler and the first operator was Miss Grace Butler, now Mrs. Fred Maulick. The first ’phones in town were those of A. L. Butler, E. A. Butler, and J. H. IIiser. The present telephone company, known as the Ansley Telephone Company, had its origin in the year 1909, through the purchase of the plant of the Central Telephone Company. Its present officers are: C. J. Stevens, president; John McCullough, vice-president; Roy Patterson, secretary; R. A. Studley, treasurer. It has local and long-distance connections and 682 subscribers,

Credits

History of Custer County, Nebraska, A Narrative of the Past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county’s history, its social, commercial, educational, religious and civic development from the early days to the present time. 
William Levi Gaston, A. R. Humphrey
Copyright, 1919 by Western Publishing & Engraving Co.