HELLO CENTRAL -- WATERVILLE'S TELEPHONE COMPANY

No petitions this time. Waterville’s telephones came in 1900 through the entrepreneurship of local hardware man Delmar Farnsworth.

Here in Waterville telephone service arrived with the new century. Delmar Farnsworth, a brother of W.W. and W.G. Farnsworth, the orchard Farnsworths, had become fascinated with the telephone since his childhood days of tin can and string. He started his own telephone company in 1900 in the hardware store building on Third Street that he owned since 1893. (The building was in the same location that now houses Waterville Hardware.) The original hardware building burned down February 1, 1955. His labor force consisted of Fred Murray and Floyd Bennett who set poles, strung the wire and installed the telephone. They also were switch board operators. This business operated 24 hours of the day, so by 1901 Lilly Fredericks Lederer was hired as the day operator. This was a 12 hour shift.  In 1901 there were all of 25 telephones in the village. Two years later there were 300 telephones and growing. The list of operators manning the switch board also grew, relieving the work crew to try to keep up with this rapidly expanding system. These ladies were Emma Eastwood, Leah Murray, Leah Conrad and Ruth Bennett. The monthly rate for a telephone was $1.00. Just for comparison a 1900 dollar would equal about $32 today. A toll call to Toledo was 10 cents for three minutes.

The home or business telephone was a box on the wall and a turn of the crank would signal the central operator who would talk with you and perhaps exchange some choice gossip then connect you to the person you wanted to call. When the operator would ring a particular phone all phones on that line would ring so others could choose to “listen in” or even join the conversation. Of course telephone technology advanced rapidly and “central” eventually became automated. The telephone company about 1903 moved to a new building around the corner on Mechanic Street with the Post Office downstairs and the Telephone Company and “Central” upstairs. In 1907 Mr. Farnsworth took his growing company public. He sold stock shares to farmers, expanding phone service to rural areas. The newly formed company was called Citizens Telephone Company, which it would remain for many years as the Waterville and area telephone company. The cost for a 12 party line in the country was $2.50 per month to offset the cost of placing and maintaining miles of posts and wire and yet the miracle of voice communication was worth the expense to village and rural residents alike. As always, technological advances improved telephone systems. In 1941 the Citizens Telephone Co. built a new building on the west side of Second Street between Mechanic and North to house new automated switching equipment and updated its lines and all telephone equipment. Operators were only needed for long distance assistance. “Central” was replaced by rotary dial phones (anybody remember those?) Party lines, however, continued well into the 1950 and 1960’s. Ask any elder if they remember four party lines, waiting for the neighbor to get off the phone so you could call and having your own ring, different from 4 or 5 other parties, and nosy others on your line who would listen in on your conversations.

Today, in the digital age, all of this is obsolete. Your phone is in your pocket, wireless and does far more than allow you to talk to someone not at your location. However for you folks who wish to rebel against all technology, the tin can and string telephone still works.

John Rose, author -- Note: The building on Mechanic Street that housed the phone company was torn down years ago. Today the location is where the Waterville mural is now.