We suspect that most GoDCers would find this subject fascinating, much like we do. The little device, which now fits in our pocket and controls our life, dates back to the decade following the Civil War. Can you imagine a time when calling on someone actually meant going to their place of residence?
One of the more amusing articles we came across detailed the history of the first telephone directory in D.C. Evidently, it was printed in 1878 and was a single sheet of paper, listing 187 phone lines with numbers starting in the single digits. When you reached the operator and asked for “Number 1,” the would connect you to the White House, and “Number 2” would connect you with the U.S. Senate. Try calling the operator now for “Number 1.”
A Washington Post article from December 16th, 1928 celebrated the 50th anniversary of telephones in D.C. with a detailed history of its origins. The article mentions that there were 150,000 phones in the city, approximately one for every 3.4 people.
The origin of the telephone in Washington came with the installation of a private telephone line between the office of the chief signal officer of the Army and Fort Whipple, not Fort Myer, Virginia, in October, 1877, just eighteen months after Prof. Alexander Graham Bell had received the patent on his telephone.
The line was connected so that the signal officer or his aids could talk to officers and their aids at the fort across the river. This was the first Bell telephone line established in the District of Columbia. It was installed by the late George C. Maynard, a telegraphist and electrician, who obtained a license as agent of the Bell Telephone Company in Washington and vicinity.
It continued by mentioning the first telephone exchange had been installed at New Haven, Connecticut and a push was made to get a critical mass of people signed up for service in Washington to warrant their own exchange. The list of initial customers was listed in the article as well, the telephone pioneers of D.C.
The subscription price, which will cover all charges for use of the necessary instruments, wires, &c., will not exceed $4 per month.
The names affixed to the list were R. Beresford, 523 Seventh street northwest; Washington Nailor, 1326 E street; W. W. Johnston, M. D., 1307 F street northwest; T. E. Chidister, Ph. D., Ninth and H streets; A. M. Gibson, 1342 Corcoran street; N. V. Jeffries, McPherson Square; R. G. and E. L. Ingersoll, 1417 G street; Middleton & Company, 1427 F street northwest; James & Saville, 342 D street, and Curtis, Earle & Burdette, 700 Ninth street.
That’s a total of ten lines to start … not that many people to call. The switchboard was established in December 1878 with a maximum capacity of 24 lines in a first floor room of 1423 G street northwest. The first operator of the switchboard was Burnet L. Nevius. By 1881, women were being employed as operators, with the first being Miss Mary Lloyd (she later married and took the name Newhall).
By the summer of 1886, there were 1,174 telephone lines listed in the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co.’s register of customers. It took almost ten more years to reach the 2,000 mark by January 1897.
We did some more digging for early first-hand accounts of the telephone in D.C. and came across special correspondence from Washington in the Baltimore Sun. This was from December 21st, 1877.
A telephone was placed to-day at the police headquarters on Louisiana avenue, connecting with the Insane Asylum, via the police stations at South Washington and the navy-yard. Much interest was shown, and the telephone was kept busily at work, an impromptu concert having been gotten up at one of the stations for transmission to the headquarters. The telephones work admirably, conversation being carried on between the stations readily. The line from the Insane Asylum runs over land and under the river, being 3 miles in length. The first being so successful the police board will soon use the telephones in all of the stations, discarding the old-fashioned or “sewing machine” telegraphic instruments. There are now nine telephones in use in this city, and it is thought that within a year their number will be considerably increased.
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It must have been a mind-blowing experience to use a telephone for the first time. Somehow, magically, you were able to speak to another person, while they were several miles away. What a bizarre and miraculous invention created by Alexander Graham Bell.
