George Lumsden was a wood expert employed at Chester. Poles of varying materials were installed throughout the property to test how they would withstand the elements. Later, a high voltage laboratory put poles under the rigor of lightning strikes and downed power lines.

Image Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.

By 1931, the facility spanned at least 100 acres. The one-story building to the right was the ceramics and concrete workshop. Other facilities were added to study insulators, the effects of wind on swaying wires, ceramic conduits for underground cables, and insect damage. Fire, replicated dust storms, and ballistics damage were among the most extreme conditions tested.

Image Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Image Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.

The Outdoor Lab served to  test equipment for linemen’s work to ensure safety and ease of use out in the field.

Image Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Fantastic, the life-size model of Cable Ship Long Lines, was used to run practice drills on dry land so that the installers were better prepared when they reached the open sea. The seaworthy Long Lines laid the longest undersea cable at the time, connecting Tuckerton, NJ to Cornwall, England in 1963. It later installed the first fiber optic transatlantic cable in 1988.

Image Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.