For Most Americans, telephone service is something that has always existed...and without much thought, most people attribute this vital service to several national companies that wired the nation in a short period of time.
What most people don't realize, however, is that the national companies extended their service only to population centers...and because the small towns and communities of rural America offered no easy profits, they didn't make the list. Quite simply, towns like Moncks Corner and small communities like Lebanon and Jamestown were left to fend for themselves.
In 1904, Mr. R. O. Winter and five other Berkeley County investors purchased and installed six telephones in buildings around Moncks Corner. There was no office, or maintenance, or long distance service...and certainly no money to be made. It was a community service, to catalyze the town's growth and communications. Within six years, however, demand for the "newfangled" telephone was enough to justify an actual business, and St. John's Telephone Company was formed. The operator was none other than R. O. Winter's wife, Mary Winter...who was paid a whopping $10 per month.
After R. O. Winter's death in 1916, the company was sold to the local electric company...only to be bought back by Mary Winter in 1939, who changed the name to Home Telephone Company. It was, Mary reflected years later, "the biggest job a little gray-haired widow ever saw."
In 1947, Mary Winter sold the company to her daughter and son-in-law, Thelma and S. S. "Shellie" Helmly. The post-war boom drastically increased the demand for telephone service, and the Helmly's brought their sons, Bobby and Dozier, into the business to help meet the needs of the ever-increasing Berkeley County population.
When Bobby and Dozier Helmly began managing the company in 1962, they developed a vision for the future that combined the company's 58 year tradition of community service with a commitment to seek out and implement the very finest technologies available. The goal was simple and straightforward: To provide Home Telephone customers with service on par with the global telecommunications companies, while carefully maintaining the company's reputation for local involvement, leadership, and service.
Today, Home Telephone employs 144 telecommunications professionals, and serves over 24,000 access lines...including all the residents of the towns of Moncks Corner and Harleyville. The company's commitment to technology is apparent in its all-digital central office, and its expanded telecommunications services like cable television, long distance, and high speed Internet access. The company's commitment to community service is equally apparent, and Home Telephone Company gives back to the community. Each year, Home provides monetary support for community outreach including education, health care, recreation, environmental, and human service programs throughout the Tri-County Area. But beyond those contributions, Home's employees give their time. Employees from every department volunteer their time by fighting against cancer with the Relay for Life, teaching young students through Junior Achievement, or servicing on the boards of educational programs that benefit our young people.
From its humble beginnings as s network of six telephones, Home Telephone Company is a true community enterprise...offering world-class telecommunications, while hiring, investing, and serving locally. It is what a business can be when its underlying core value is service to the community.