1. A Walk Through History
The Westerville Public Library
Local History Resource Center Newsletter
January 2008
The Telephone Comes to Westerville
Before the telephone arrived in town, communication was dependent on the mailman or
the telegraph office. With many obstacles, local phone services got a slow start in West-
erville. In 1879 Rowe and Barels connected their warehouse and grocery store by a tele-
phone line. Other early connections were set up to aid the Everal Tile Company in con-
tacting J. W. Markley’s store and also the railroad depot.
In 1901 the Franklin Telephone Company built a telephone exchange with 65 initial
subscribers. This company was replaced in 1905 with the Central Union Telephone Com-
pany and then public phone service really grew. The telephone operators were located on
the second floor of the Weyant Building (Old Bag of Nails) and had to assist with every
call that was placed. When a customer wanted to talk to someone he would turn the crank
attached to his phone. The operator would hear a ring-
ing sound and a small red piece would fall from the big
switchboard. The operator would then plug in the line of
the caller to the person he was trying to reach. If there
was a call for the police, the operator flipped a switch
turning on a light which was on the corner of the Wey-
ant Building. A call for the fire department meant that
the operator was responsible for turning a switch which
turned on the fire siren. The fire department was all vol-
unteer and when the siren sounded all the volunteers ran
to man the fire truck. The operators would also call all
of the neighbors near the fire to ask them to go help fight
the fire.
The telephone operators were replaced with a dial system
in 1941, and customers were finally able to make a tele-
phone call on their own.

2. Alexander Graham Bell
and the invention of the telephone
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 3, 1847,
Alexander Graham Bell, was the middle son. His
mother was deaf and his father was constantly
involved with methods of enhancing the communica-
tion ability of the hearing impaired. At the age of 16,
Alexander was hired as a school teacher to instruct
his students in music and speech.
His life changed when both of his brothers died of
tuberculosis at an early age and this middle son
showed signs of lung disease also. Panicked, his
parents decided to escape the damp London
winters and move the family to Canada. In the clear
Alexander Graham Bell air of Canada, Alexander’s health improved.
At the age of 25 Bell set up his own school of
voice physiology in Boston. While engaged in
this enterprise, he met a young man named
Thomas A. Watson who also had an interest in
finding a way to transmit sound. Through trial
and error they developed a machine basing it on a
mechanical version of the ear. For two years they
experimented until they could get a patent. It was
issued in March of 1876. One of the first trans-
missions of sound with their new invention came
when Bell accidentally spilled sulfuric acid on his
clothes and used the phone to summon Watson to
help him. He excitedly said into the phone, “Mr.
Watson come here, I want you.” One of the first
phone calls was actually an emergency call.
Thomas A. Watson
One hundred years later, the phone had revolutionized
communication in the United States and throughout the world. On any given day in 1976,
over 12 million long distance telephone calls were made in the United States alone.

3. Rinnnng, Rinnnng, ring.
Two long rings, one short ring.
In the early days of telephones and into the 1950s most families
shared their phone lines with other families. This system was
called the “party line” system. There might be two families shar-
ing a telephone line; there might be 10 families sharing the line.
Each family had a special phone ring, and when they heard their
phone make the ring they knew the call was for them. (Much like
our cell phones today which play music and have special rings
to get our attention) If a family spent a lot of time on the phone
it meant other families couldn’t make or take calls. Also families
could listen in on another family’s calls, so any secret you talked
about on the phone might not be a secret for long.
Telephone trivia
After Alexander Graham Bell died August 2, 1922, all telephone service in America was
stopped for one minute as a tribute of respect for the man who had given it birth.
The first telephone book was published in New Haven, CT. in
February 1878. It had one page with 50 names and no telephone
numbers since all calls were connected by the operators.
The Hartford Connecticut Bank had the first pay telephone in
1889. Today, pay phones are disappearing as people use cell
phones.
Westerville Pubic Schools entry from
the 1956 Westerville Worthington Telephone Directory

4. Telephone Milestones
1876 – patent for telephone granted
1877 – first phone switchboard used to
connect doctors’ offices and drug
stores
1880 – first use of telephone numbers
Bell Telephone 1876
1892 – 240,000 telephones in service in the
United States
1915 – first phone call from the east coast of
the U.S. to the west coast
1947 – the North American numbering
system was started, which
assigned phone numbers to
Early Rotary Telephone
customers in the U.S. (the first
three numbers indicated the area
being called)
1951 – direct dial long distance was used,
which meant an operator was no
longer needed
1968 – first 911 call was made
1973 – first portable cell phone Cell Telephone

5. Activities
Math:
The number of cell phone subscribers in the United
States reached approximately 159 million in 2003, up from
34 million in 1995, according to the 2004 edition of the
national data book released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
How many more cell phone subscribers were there in 2003
than in 1995? Do you think there are EVEN more cell
phone subscribers today than in 2003?
Language Arts:
On page four you read about families sharing their phone line
with other families. Today many families have cell phones. Write
about your family and whether your family members have cell
phones. Describe who in your family has cell phones and when
they use it. Do you have a cell phone? If so, when do you use it?
Do you have a special ring for other family members or friends?
Art:
On page two you read that Alexander Graham
Bell summoned Thomas Watson to help him. Draw
a picture of Mr. Bell calling Mr. Watson on the early
version of the telephone.
Bell Telephone 1876

6. Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad has been the subject of
many books and programs in recent years.
We have collected materials on the movement of the
runaway slaves and the people who helped them.
A program with emphasis on Westerville’s role in the
Underground Railroad is available.
Schedule a local history
program for your classroom
We will share the early history of Westerville with
stories of the first settlers and Native Americans
in the area. Your students will hear about the
milestones of transportation in our community
and see old photographs from our collection.
Any of the above programs can be scheduled by contacting
Beth Weinhardt, coordinator of local history, at the Westerville Public Library
at 882-7277 ext. 160 or by e-mail at bweinhar@westervillelibrary.org.
1858-2008
2008 is a year to celebrate Westerville. In honor of the 150th birthday of our community
many history-related events are planned. The Ohio Humanities Chautauqua is
coming to the soccer fields across from the Community Center on Cleveland Ave.
The theme of this year’s presentations is Inventors and Innovators.
One of the featured inventors is Alexander Graham Bell.
Every evening July 2nd through July 6th a different person from history will be portrayed.
There will also be daytime programs at the library and the Westerville Senior Center
to share more about inventions and innovations.
Look for more information to follow in the spring.