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Farmers sawing down an electrical utility pole during the "Battle of the Postholes," Adams County, PA, January 1941.
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Dark image of shadowy figures sawing down a telephone pole

Credit: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association

In the late 1930s and early 1940s rural electric cooperatives fought for affordable, reliable electricity against the state's powerful utilities industry. In January, 1941, Adams County farmers sawed down private power company electric poles and then drove away Pennsylvania Power and Light crew workers during what became known as "Battle of the Postholes."

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