The telephone company

Mr. Moore became an inventor at 18, and in 1892 founded the Moore Telephone Manufacturing Company and Moore Telephone System (MTS), both of which were located in Marlette, Michigan. 

In 1896, business interests in Caro, Michigan offered Mr. Moore a bonus of several thousand dollars to move his companies there.  It was during this time that the telephone industry was still in its infancy.  Moore Telephone System (MTS) was one of 6,600 independent telephone companies that sprang up around the turn of the century after the basic Bell patents ran out.

By 1905, Caro was a thriving and cohesive center of business, industry, and middle-class life.  Mr. Moore was instrumental in bringing telephone service to rural areas in the Thumb of Michigan.  He continued to grow his company, installing the latest improvements and updates in the industry and by the year 1922, the MTS had grown its subscribers from 36 to over 850.  It became incorporated in the year 1946 and by 1954 had over 2250 subscribers in the city of Caro alone.  

In the year 1958 the company made the switch from manually operated phones to the new and improved dial system.  In 1965 the company was sold to the Independent Telephone Corporation.