Mitchell-Tyndall Northwestern Bell Toll Lead in its former glory on a county road north of Tyndall, South Dakota. Picture was taken looking south in the 1970s. The lines of openwire communications along streets, roads and highways used to be a common sight back in the early part of the 20th Century. Now, sights like this are impossible so see anymore. This is the Mitchell-Tyndall toll lead in South Dakota, just 15 miles north of Tyndall, South Dakota, where the first attempt in U. S. history was made to preserve an openwire technical artifact in situ. This was attempted during 1979-1982 by D. G. Schema and The Electric Orphanage. While the preservation of this particular lead in the photo was not accomplished, parts of this line were preserved and an entire lead in the Black Hills of South Dakota was preserved by D. G. Schema, Northwestern Bell, the Smithsonian Institution and interested parties at Tilford, South Dakota.