Abstract

Historians of the Internet have richly analyzed the government and academic origins of networked computing in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the early commercialization of the Internet. This work adds to the available histories by analyzing local Internet policy. This article examines Lusk, Wyoming’s development of a fiber-optic network to attract information-rich industries and enter the information age. I employ the concept of Patrice Flichy’s information highway imaginaire to highlight how the national discourse around information and communication technologies led Lusk to create its network and how the town’s network in turn contributed to the collective vision.

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