Last large manual telephone exchange?

[k***@gmail.com]

Jeff and Lisa, when I worked for the bell system I remember that the last manual telephone exchange in the USA was ford Kansas which I think converted to rotary dial in the late 80s. The whole town was against the change as it showed a little elderly lady on a t.v special standing in front of her very antiquated wooden wall phone. The few merchants in the town insisted upon the change finally as it showed the vet in town and the fact that he could not keep in touch with his clients as needed. It was funny bet for years the bell system would treated these little towns with disconnecting their toll lines if they did not go dial. Ford Kansas people said ,go ahead!! They called their bluff and won because had the bell system pulled the plug on their toll circuits and were prevented from calling other communities in an emergency, they were risking an eminent law suit. I cheered them on even though I worked for bell! They were a powerful lobby years ago but it was probably the best job that I have ever had. Just thought you all may be interested. ***@outlook.com

[David Kaye]

<***@gmail.com> wrote

Jeff and Lisa, when I worked for the bell system I remember that the last
manual telephone exchange in the USA was ford Kansas which I think converted
to rotary dial in the late 80s. The whole town was against the change as it
showed a little elderly lady on a t.v special standing in front of her very
antiquated wooden wall phone. The few merchants in the town insisted upon
the change finally as it showed the vet in town and the fact that he could
not keep in touch with his clients as needed. It was funny bet for years the
bell system would treated these little towns with disconnecting their toll
lines if they did not go dial. Ford Kansas people said ,go ahead!! They
called their bluff and won because had the bell system pulled the plug on
their toll circuits and were prevented from calling other communities in an
emergency, they were risking an eminent law suit. I cheered them on even
though I worked for bell! They were a powerful lobby years ago but it was
probably the best job that I have ever had. Just thought you all may be
interested. ***@outlook.com
==end quote==

I'm not sure the exact date, but I remember in the 1980s the town of San
Gregorio on the San Mateo Coast, about 50 miles south of San Francisco still
had manual dial. They didn't have a CO per se. If you picked up the phone
at Alsford's General Store ("San Gregorio #2", I believe) or went to the pay
phone (I think it was "San Gregorio #6"), you were connected to the
international and marine operator in Oakland. So, a call from SF to San
Gregorio was actually a local call because it was technically a call to
Oakland.

I remember trying to phone the general store to get weather conditions for
the beach because the beach there was in a cove and subject to very
different weather than the rest of the coast (some miles south of the
well-known Maverick's surfing spot). I'd have to call 00 to reach the long
distance/international operator. Then I'd ask for "San Gregorio #2". "2
what?" "San Gregorio is a toll office and the number is 2." "Is this in
the Americas?" "Yes, it's just south of San Mateo." "What country is
that?" "The United States." I'd go through much the same song and dance
trying to reach the number whenever I wanted to reach the general store.

By the late 80s or so, they finally just said the hell with it and extended
the Half Moon Bay dial office (650-726) to include San Gregorio.




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[LdB]

Post by k***@gmail.com
Jeff and Lisa, when I worked for the bell system I remember that the last
manual telephone exchange in the USA was ford Kansas which I think converted
to rotary dial in the late 80s.
I'm not sure the exact date, but I remember in the 1980s the town of San
Gregorio on the San Mateo Coast, about 50 miles south of San Francisco still
had manual dial.
http://www.avast.com

Those old steppers were a marvel of longevity. Back in the 80's I had
the "pleasure" of occasionally working on an old stepper PBX that had
a brass 1919 installation date tag on its wooden frame. I don't
imagine many of the new electronic offices will last sixty or seventy
years.

Post by k***@gmail.com
the best job that I have ever had

No argument there. :)

LdB

[0***@gmail.com]

Oh and Huntington was a city of around 25,000 people

[Thomas Horne]

Post by 0***@gmail.com
Oh and Huntington was a city of around 25,000 people

The last manual telephone exchange in the United States of America was in Bryant Pond Maine. It was automated in 1983. The owner's hung on to manual service because they were not willing to lay off they're 20 operators. They made the transition to an automated exchange when the workload had grown enough to keep the operators employed on a mix of other work.

[0***@gmail.com]

I know the last manual city was Huntington, Indiana. We still had an operator answer when we picked up the phone to give our 4 digit number to connect us. This changed in the early 60's. I know this because my mom who was a telephone operator was part of the transition team. This was about 64 or 65.