Name of Plaque Calaveras Telephone
Location of Plaque, Highway / Road No., City and County 513 Main Street, Copperopolis, Calaveras County
Explain the Design of the Plaque and Base Black granite plaque mounted on a native rock base.
Date of Dedication April 3, 1999
Name of Dedicating Humbug NGH Mike Carbonaro, E Clampus Vitus – Matuca Chapter 1849
Exact Wording of Plaque
Calaveras Telephone
PRESENT SITE OF ONE OF THE LAST FAMILY – FOUNDED AND – STILL – OPERATED – BY –
THAT – FAMILY PHONE COMPANIES IN AMERICA. FOUNDED BY JIM TOWER, WHO STRUNG HIS
FIRST TELEPHONE WIRES IN 1895 TACKED ALONG POSTS OF BARB WIRE FENCES, EARNING
HIMSELF THE COLORFUL NICKNAME, “BARB WIRE JIM.” IN 1900, JIM WAS FRANCHISED WITH
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE BELL SYSTEM. BARB WIRE JIM WAS
BORN IN NEARBY SALT SPRINGS VALLEY IN 1879, HAVING BEEN MIDWIFED BY MADAME FELIX
HERSELF. IN 1909, JIM MARRIED ONE OF HIS OPERATORS, LAURA HAZELQUIST. BARB WIRE
JIM DIED IN 1936. HIS WIFE RAN THE COMPANY UNTIL SHE WAS SUCCEEDED BY THEIR ONLY
CHILD, HOWRAD. THE COMPANY IS NOW RUN BY BARB WIRE JIM’S GRANDSON, ALSO JIM, BUT
NOT “BARB WIRE.”
DEDICATED BY MATUCA CHAPTER 1849 E CLAMPUS VITUS APRIL 3, 1999 -6004-
CREDO QUIA ABSURDUM