Founded in 1914, the Fort Bend Telephone Company began when Charles H. waddell purchased nine individual telephone lines in the Needville community and established a central switchboard exchange. The company grew quickly and soon connected the neighboring towns of Beasley, Brookshire, Damon, Fairchild, Guy, Katy, and Pattison. Incorporated in 1917, the company installed its first dial system in the late 1950s; rural underground cables in 1962; dial service to Houston in 1973; and digital dialing in 1978. Still family-operated, the company is a significant local business.