Editing Bell Labs (section)

===Formal organization and location changes===
[[File:Bell Laboratories West Street.jpg|alt=463 West Street New York Bell Labs|thumb|The [[Bell Laboratories Building]], built at 463 West Street in [[New York City]] in 1925]]
In 1896, Western Electric bought property at [[Bell Laboratories Building (Manhattan)|463 West Street]] to centralize the manufacturers and engineers which had been supplying AT&T with such technology as telephones, [[telephone exchange]] switches and transmission equipment.

During the early 20th century, several historically significant laboratories were established. In 1915, the first radio transmissions were made from a shack in [[Montauk, Long Island]]. That same year, tests were performed on the first transoceanic radio telephone at a house in [[Arlington County, Virginia]].  A radio reception laboratory was established in 1919 in the [[Cliffwood, New Jersey|Cliffwood]] section of [[Aberdeen Township, New Jersey]]. Additionally for 1919, a transmission studies site was established in [[Phoenixville, Pennsylvania]] that built, in 1929, the coaxial conductor line for first tests of long-distance transmission in various frequencies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shepherd |first1=R. Linsley |title=Bell Telephone Quarterly-The Geography of the Bell Telephone Laboratories |date=April 1939 |publisher=INFORMATION DEPARTMENT AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY |pages=95–96 |edition=VOLUME XVIII |url=https://archive.org/details/belltelephonemag18amerrich/page/95/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=18 December 2023}}</ref>

On January 1, 1925, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. was organized to consolidate the development and research activities in the communication field and allied sciences for the Bell System. Ownership was evenly shared between Western Electric and AT&T. The new company had 3600 engineers, scientists, and support staff. Its {{Convert|400000|sqft|adj=on}} space was expanded with a new building occupying about one quarter of a city block.<ref name="telephony1925">Telephony, Volume 87(5), p.20, January 31, 1925</ref>

The first chairman of the board of directors was [[John J. Carty]], AT&T's vice president, and the first president was [[Frank B. Jewett]],<ref name="telephony1925"/> also a board member, who stayed there until 1940.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Donofrio |first=Angelo |date=May–June 1966 |title=West Street Story |journal=Bell Labs Reporter |volume=15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=[[The Idea Factory]] |last=Gertner |first=Jon |publisher=The Penguin Press |year=2012 |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Manufacturing the Future |last=Adams, Butler |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999 |location=Cambridge}}</ref> The operations were directed by E. B. Craft, executive vice-president, and formerly chief engineer at Western Electric.

In the early 1920s, a few outdoor facilities and radio communications development facilities were developed. In 1925, the test plot studies were established at [[Gulfport, Mississippi]], where there were numerous telephone pole samples established for wood preservation. At the [[Deal, New Jersey]] location, work was done on ship-to-shore radio telephony. In 1926, in the [[Whippany, New Jersey|Whippany]] section of [[Hanover Township, New Jersey]], land was acquired and established for the development of a 50-kilowatt broadcast transmitter. In 1931, Whippany increased with {{Convert|75|acres}} added from a nearby property. In 1928, a {{Convert|15|acre|adj=on}} site in [[Chester Township, New Jersey]], was leased for outdoor tests, though the facility became inadequate for such purposes. In 1930, the Chester location required the purchase of an additional {{Convert|85|acres}} of land to be used for a new outdoor plant development laboratory. Prior to Chester being established, a test plot was installed in [[Limon, Colorado]] in 1929, similar to the one in Gulfport. The three test plots at Gulfport, Limon, and Chester were outdoor facilities for preservatives and prolonging the use of telephone poles. Additionally, in 1929, a land expansion was done at the Deal Labs to {{Convert|208|acres}}. This added land increased the facility for radio transmission studies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shepherd |first1=R. Linsley |title=Bell Telephone Quarterly-The Geography of the Bell Telephone Laboratories |date=April 1939 |publisher=INFORMATION DEPARTMENT AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY |pages=96–102 |edition=VOLUME XVIII |url=https://archive.org/details/belltelephonemag18amerrich/page/95/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=18 December 2023}}</ref>

The beginning of 1930s, established three facilities with radio communications experiments and chemical aspects testing. By 1939, the [[Summit, New Jersey]], chemical laboratory was nearly 10 years established in a three-story building conducted experiments in corrosion, using various fungicides tests on cables, metallic components, or wood. For 1929, land was purchased in [[Holmdel Township, New Jersey]], for a radio reception laboratory to replace the [[Cliffwood, New Jersey|Cliffwood]] location that had been in operation since 1919. In 1930, the Cliffwood location was ending its operations as Holmdel was established. Whereas, in 1930, a location in [[Mendham Township, New Jersey]], was established to continue radio receiver developments farther from the Whippany location and eliminate transmitter interference at that facility with developments. The Mendham location worked on communication equipment and broadcast receivers. These devices were used for marine, aircraft, and police services as well as the location performed precision frequency-measuring apparatus, field strength measurements, and conducted radio interference.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shepherd |first1=R. Linsley |title=Bell Telephone Quarterly-The Geography of the Bell Telephone Laboratories |date=April 1939 |publisher=INFORMATION DEPARTMENT AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY |pages=95–102 |edition=VOLUME XVIII |url=https://archive.org/details/belltelephonemag18amerrich/page/95/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=18 December 2023}}</ref>

By the early 1940s, Bell Labs engineers and scientists had begun to move to other locations away from the congestion and environmental distractions of New York City, and in 1967 Bell Laboratories headquarters was officially relocated to [[Murray Hill, New Jersey]].

Among the later Bell Laboratories locations in New Jersey were [[Holmdel Township, New Jersey|Holmdel Township]], [[Crawford Hill]], the [[Deal Test Site]], [[Freehold Borough, New Jersey|Freehold]], [[Lincroft, New Jersey|Lincroft]], [[Long Branch, New Jersey|Long Branch]], [[Middletown Township, New Jersey|Middletown]], [[Neptune Township, New Jersey|Neptune Township]], [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], [[Piscataway, New Jersey|Piscataway]], [[Red Bank, New Jersey|Red Bank]], [[Chester Township, New Jersey|Chester Township]], and [[Whippany, New Jersey|Whippany]]. Of these, Murray Hill and Crawford Hill remain in existence (the Piscataway and Red Bank locations were transferred to and are now operated by [[Telcordia Technologies]] and the Whippany site was purchased by [[Bayer]]<ref>{{cite web |title=It's official! Bayer buys Alcatel-Lucent site in Hanover Twp |date=May 16, 2012 |url=http://newjerseyhills.com/hanover_eagle/news/it-s-official-bayer-buys-alcatel-lucent-site-in-hanover/article_d32b1704-9fc7-11e1-8336-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=story |publisher=The Hanover Eagle |access-date=May 21, 2012 |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324150952/http://www.newjerseyhills.com/hanover_eagle/news/it-s-official-bayer-buys-alcatel-lucent-site-in-hanover/article_d32b1704-9fc7-11e1-8336-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=story |url-status=live }}</ref>).

The largest grouping of people in the company was in [[Illinois]], at [[Naperville, Illinois|Naperville]]-[[Lisle, Illinois|Lisle]], in the Chicago area, which had the largest concentration of employees (about 11,000) prior to 2001. There also were groups of employees in [[Indianapolis]], Indiana; [[Columbus, Ohio]]; [[North Andover, Massachusetts]]; [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]]; [[Reading, Pennsylvania]]; and [[Breinigsville, Pennsylvania]]; Burlington, North Carolina (1950s–1970s, moved to Greensboro 1980s) and [[Westminster, Colorado]]. Since 2001, many of the former locations have been scaled down or closed.

[[File:Bell Labs Holmdel.jpg|thumb|The Old [[Bell Labs Holmdel Complex]], located about 20 miles south of New York City, in [[New Jersey]]]]

Bell's [[Bell Labs Holmdel Complex|Holmdel research and development lab]], a {{Convert|1900000|sqft|adj=on}} structure set on {{Convert|473|acres}}, was closed in 2007. The mirrored-glass building was designed by [[Eero Saarinen]]. In August 2013, Somerset Development bought the building, intending to redevelop it into a mixed commercial and residential project. A 2012 article expressed doubt on the success of the newly named Bell Works site,<ref>{{cite news |title=Future takes shape for Bell Labs site |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/realestate/commercial/future-takes-shape-for-bell-labs-site.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 11, 2013 |access-date=September 29, 2013 |last1=Kaysen |first1=Ronda |archive-date=September 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919220746/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/realestate/commercial/future-takes-shape-for-bell-labs-site.html |url-status=live }}</ref> but several large tenants had announced plans to move in through 2016 and 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.icims.com/about-us/news-room/press-releases/icims-plans-move-to-landmark-bell-works-building-commits-to |title=iCIMS Plans Move to Landmark Bell Works Building, Commits to Continued Growth in NJ |date=July 10, 2016 |website=ICIMS.com |access-date=October 10, 2018 |archive-date=July 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710195341/https://www.icims.com/about-us/news-room/press-releases/icims-plans-move-to-landmark-bell-works-building-commits-to |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2017/04/nyc-based_insurance_company_reportedly_signs_lease.html |title=Hundreds of new workers to move into historic Bell Labs building |date=April 10, 2017 |website=NJ.com |access-date=October 10, 2018 |archive-date=October 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010213624/https://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2017/04/nyc-based_insurance_company_reportedly_signs_lease.html |url-status=live }}</ref>