The Malheur Home Telephone Company was incorporated in 1910 and purchased the property and franchises of the Malheur Telephone Company at Vale, and of the Rocky Mountain Bell Company at Ontario and Nyssa; and in 1911 the Malheur Home Telephone Company purchased the toll facilities of both the Rocky Mountain Bell and the Independent Long Distance Telephone Company of Idaho which were located in Oregon.

 

The Malheur Home Telephone Company also purchased the competing Ontario Independent Telephone Company in 1911 and the Nyssa Owyhee Telephone Company in 1912. It is interesting to note that in both Ontario and Nyssa, two competing telephone companies existed for a period of two years.

 

The Rocky Mountain Bell properties purchased by the Malheur Home Telephone Company were paid for by stock of the latter company. The Stock held by Rocky Mountain Bell represented a controlling interest of the Malheur Home Telephone Company, and when the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company and others were merged to form the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company therefore became the prime owner of the Malheur Home Telephone Company and its operation in Oregon. Over the years the stock of minority holders of the Malheur Home Telephone Company has been purchased, until Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company became the sole owner of Malheur Home Telephone Company.

 

Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph became more commonly known as Mountain Bell; likewise Malheur Home Telephone is more commonly referred to as Malheur Bell.

A new central office was established in 1965 on the Oregon Slope. This addition expanded Malheur Bell’s service area north of Ontario.

 

During 1984's divestiture of AT&T, old "Ma Bell" was broken up and Mountain Bell became part of US West. From 1984 through 1991, Mountain Bell remained in existence as a subsidiary of US West, but in 1991, US West Telecommunications Company was formed and Mountain Bell ceased to exist. At the point, the ownership of Malheur Bell stock was passed to US West. All along, Malheur Bell continued to operate as an independent rural telephone company while being a wholly owned subsidiary of Mountain Bell and then US West.

 

When Qwest merged with US West in June of 2000, the corporate parent became the new Qwest Communications.

 

Throughout all the changes, one thing has remained the same... Malheur Bell has always been a local phone company where the people making the decision and providing the service are your neighbors. Malheur Bell is your local phone company, and the team at Malheur bell is always working to provide you the best possible service because you are important to us. We strive to keep every interaction personal and professional because we value the trust you have placed in us.