The History that Made Us
Do you remember when Whitley went from “219” to “260”?
What about when exchange operations went to dial tones?
Believe it or not, there have been a number of changes to how we have communicated over the telephone, and that history is certainly prevalent in Whitley County and Columbia City’s past.
The first telephone service came to Whitley County in November of 1880 by the Midland Telephone Company. It was connected on the line extending from Fort Wayne to Warsaw, and the company had toll offices in Larwill and Columbia City. Back in those days, rates were $4 a month.
The Whitley County Telephone Company was organized in 1895 with a centralized switchboard in the locality. Officers were A.A. Adams, W.H. Magley, A.H. Foust and J.A. Ruch. The company started with a stock of $3,000, but as its popularity grew it was soon found insufficient and brought to $10,000. In the following few years toll lines were extended to South Whitley, Churubusco and Etna.
By August of 1901, 22 operators were managing the local switchboard and the exchange connected 1,447 businesses and individuals. In the earliest days of the telephone, numbers weren’t actually numbers – they were names. Soon after it was determined that would be confusing as some people might have the same last name. Instead, customers were assigned a number, which could have been a two, three or even four digit number. When people would pick up the phone, you wouldn’t hear a dial tone. Instead, they would be connected to an operator at a switchboard who would connect their line on the exchange to another. This numbering system lasted until 1961 when the city and county turned to a dial system. Costs for connection were $24 a year for businesses and $12 for residents.
Before that time, a competing telephone company (the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company) had been established in August of 1903. By the fall of the next year, it had connected service to Laud, South Whitley and Larwill and a franchise had been granted in Columbia City. Towards the end of 1906, this company had reached as far as Wolf Lake and had 1,152 telephones.
But after 15 years of competition, an agreement was reached between the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company and the Whitley County Telephone Company to consolidate into one, and it was renamed the Community Telephone Company. Its headquarters were located first in the Whitley County company’s office in Columbia City. This first company still maintained the lines from both businesses. Then around 1927 it was purchased by the James Goodrich Interstate Telephone and Telegraph who began consolidating those phone lines. This also meant a new home for the telephone company, and after the consolidation was completed on May 30, 1930 everything was cut over to its new location at 110 N. CHAUNCEY STREET.
Just a couple of years later United Telephone Company took over operations. They continued to own it and operate from this location for several years. In the 1960s, the news of the day was the switch to the dial system, an operation that was completed in November of 1961 after first beginning in June of 1947. By that time, it had connected 6,955 telephones in Whitley County. By then, the calling system had undergone several other changes, but it was decided that a numerical system would be the easiest to keep track of each individual phone, and where the call would be originating from. Today this still is a seven-digit number accompanied with an area code.
As for the United Telephone Company’s home on Chauncey Street, it was still occupying the space through the 1980s when the telephone system went digital, and even today the Deeded Owner of the property is the United Telephone Company (according to GIS information).
Thank you to the Whitley County Historical Museum for sharing photos from their collection and for their outstanding research and writing of the article.
Where are We: Architectural History
For almost a century, this little cherub-like face sets in an entablature high above this building’s entrance. The little carved face—called a mascaron—is located on the front of 110 North Chaucey Street (sometimes called the Telephone Building).
Built in 1930, stylistically the building incorporates elements from earlier styles, Craftsman (the modillion cornice) and Art Nouveau (this fanciful carved entablature), while also being an early Art Deco building (the clean lines and subdued ornamentation). Notably the rear of the building, a truck garage, was built with matching architecture style; unusual for such a utilitarian structure.
The building has seen some modifications over 95 years, but fortunately little details like these still remain for those who look up to enjoy.
Thank you to Nathan Bilger for providing the recent photos and valuable insights into the architectural history.
