Early 1900s photocard of US Route 1 in a southern Maine town. The open wire you see was owned by the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company and very well may have connected northerly locations such as Portland, Maine with points south including Portsmouth, NH, Boston, Providence and New York City, etc. The lower crossarm (darker colored ones) likely was for subscriber loops. It is known that a major lead-covered cable was installed by New England Telephone for toll connections via an underground and overhead route pararelling US Route 1 in Southern Maine (at least) during the late teens or early 1920's. Some portions of this overland lead-covered cable route ran pararel to Route 1 about a mile east (towards the shore and in undeveloped, seashore areas). This line was maintained by New England Telephone for a great many years and subsequently by NYNEX. Very probably due to its age, upgrading/replacement has since been made by sucessors Bell Atlantic and Verizon.