Mr. U. S Williams started the phone and water service in Pembroke in the late 1800's. Mr. Williams received the franchise for these utilities when the city of Pembroke was incorporated in 1905. Sometime afterward, Mr. Williams sold the water service to the city. During 1943, Mr. William's health was failing and he turned control of the company over to the Sullivan Family. They operated the company for a short time until Mr. Williams's health became even worse, at which point he sold the company to C. R. Sikes. Mr. Sikes already owned the telephone company in Glennville, Georgia. The name of the company was changed to Sikes Telephone Company and was run by Mrs. Vivian Kitchens during the day.
Following a tour of duty in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Paul and Ivey Beardslee purchased the Pembroke portion of the company from Sikes Telephone Company and took control of the management operations on March 21, 1946. The company was renamed the Pembroke Telephone Company and consisted of a Magneto System which served 112 stations, most of which were ground lines.
During the war, it was almost impossible to buy equipment and even harder to keep existing equipment operational. The majority of the company's time was spent locating materials and keeping the lines in good working order. On occasion, the Army offered some cable and wire for sale at reasonable prices on a first-come, first-served basis. Full advantage was taken of this opportunity and it allowed the company to expand phone service to more customers. Mr. Leroy Harvey, an employee of Southern Bell Savannah, assisted by heading up a weekend crew to install lead cables to replace the open wire that was hanging from the telephone pole crossarms down the main streets of Pembroke.
