Subject:
Telephone Company
Aaron Potts
First Class at Lee
I was a young boy when the telephone company opened the new office and they had an "open house" so my mother and I went there. They were passing out key chains and other frivolus stuff as we entered the building. They had just installed the dial system that we still couldn't use yet but, they showed us how it would work with all of the relays and the mechanical device of the switches. We only could get a rotary dial because the "touch tone" had not been developed as of yet. Of course that intrigued me because I have always been a fanatic about electrical devices. I guess that is why I decided to get my degree in electrical engineering. The dial phone worked on a "pulse" signal rather than an "electronic tone" device.
The phone company was located directly beside where the police station is located now, just East of that building in a red brick building.
On another note that you may find strang - the Huntsville Hospital was a house of prostitution before teh city limits were extended that far out. I'm serious about that. I looked up the origional stuff about Huntsville and some of the buildings there and one even showed the Northern occupation of Huntsville during the civil war. There was a picture of the old bank building n the background and the old courthouse with a lot of "yankee" soldiers there.
Mollie Teal (1852-1899) was a popular "madam" in Huntsville. She gave her large Victorian home to the city of Huntsville to be used as a hospital. It was the first public hospital until the present structure built for Huntsville Hospital.
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Subject:Phone Company
George Lehman Williams
Class of ‘64
I believe the Telephone co was on Madison St. My mother worked for South Central Bell for 41 years. I would pick her up sometime when she got off work at 10 or 11 p.m. I remember going around the downtown circle or square, Bradley’s Cafeteria was on the west side – I think, and I would go past the First National Bank on the south side, the one that Jesse James robbed – another story, turn right and go one block, turn left and about two blocks on the right was the phone co. This was the new building and I seem to remember that the original location was downtown on the east side of the square. All this from a guy that couldn’t remember on Monday’s what he did on Saturday nights – that may have been a blessing.
On another note, hopefully the reunion committee will at least pick a date so those of us coming from out of state can book a flight.
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Subject:Phone Company
Jennifer Bannecke
Class of '66
I believe the phone company was located across from Big Spring Park. I worked there as a long distance operator after I graduated in 1966 for about a year. The back of the building faced the park. I can't remember if it was called Bell South or Southern Bell.
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Subject:Telephone Company
Lance George
Was it on Williams (next to the old library?) I assume they set it up there when they went to 7-digit numbers around 1960. It became South Central Bell in 1967,Bellsouth in 1996 and at&t in 2006. 882(S Pky)/852(Mastin Lake)/837(Holmes/University)’s office went up about the same time
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