PlantTel

The Gleaton familys telephone business began in 1895 with the Doles telephone operation and continued to grow with the addition of the Warwick exchange in 1928. The founder of Plant Telephone Company, as it is now known, J.P. Jimmy Gleaton, (3rd generation) was born in 1919. J.P. graduated from high school in 1933 and continued to work with his fam... ilys telephone exchange in Warwick and was later employed full time by Southern Bell Telephone Company as a lineman. J.P. married Allene Grimsley in 1935, continued to work for Southern Bell, and enjoyed staying involved in the family telephone business. Shortly after the Gleaton family moved to Tifton in 1946, the Omega Telephone Company was purchased and became Plant Telephone Company. The name Plant was chosen because Omega was known as the Starter Plant Capital of the World. In 1949, the Lenox exchange was constructed. Tifton became the headquarter site for Plant Telephone Company since it was adjacent to the Lenox and Omega exchanges and J.P had established his home here. J.P. and Allene had three daughters, Betty Chloe, Beverly, and Barbara. Plant is unique, it is a locally owned telephone company with headquarters and business offices located in a Bellsouth area. The tremendous growth and expansion of Plant Telephone continued under the outstanding leadership and vision of J.P. Gleaton. The Pearson and Willacoochee Telephone Companies were purchased in 1950. By 1951, all the companies merged and converted to modern dial telephone service. The Pinehurst exchange was acquired in 1954. On March 17,1955, a loan contract with the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) provided money to cover the additional costs of expanding the companys service since the existing facilities were inadequate to meet the demand for the modern services. The Soperton exchange purchase followed in 1956. Mobile phones and paging services were added to the telephone companys array of products. In 1963, Beverly Gleaton (4th generation), J.P.s daughter, began working at the family ...Read More