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The TEN Project - Researching Telephone Exchange Names

Started by Phonesrfun, October 28, 2009, 12:01:40 AM

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Kenny C

I looked it up and it's HIllcrest-9 For your location.
In memory of
  Marie B.
1926-2010

bingster

Keep in mind that not all towns had exchange names, and for those that did, many, many exchange names existed that were local place names, and so aren't on that "approved list."  Additionally, many locations didn't have the same exchange number forever.  It's quite possible that a current exchange has only been around twenty or forty years, and that the old one was completely different.

The best bet to find YOUR exchange name, if there was one, is to visit a local library and look at the ads in old newspapers, or the listings in old phone books.
= DARRIN =



Phonesrfun

That is good advice.   In the town I grew up in, Portland, Oregon, most exchanges went through a change in the mid 1950's.  Portland went from two letters and four numbers to two letters, and five numbers.  Over the course of about five years, all the 2L-4N number exchanges were changed over.  At the start of the conversion, any brand new exchanges started out as 2L-5N exchanges.

Our number started out as LInclon-1971 (54-1971) and went to ALpine 4-1971 (254-1971).  In this case they simply added a "2" in front of the number and chose another "name".  Others in that area that went through the change got entirely new exchange names and all new 4-digit numbers.  I guess adding a digit at the front in some cases would not fit the numbering plan, so they went with something entirely different.

I once found some old articles in the local newspaper at the local library microfilm stacks that were written at the time to tell everyone of the changes and how it was going to effect them.  Newpaper ads for businesses before the conversion had the old shorter numbers, and ads after that time listed the new numbers.

Phone books had the same thing, of course.
-Bill G

bingster

Exactly.  There were so many different methods of updating the exchanges, even within the same regional company, that simply going to the approved list for an exchange is an exercise in futility, if it's historical accuracy you're after.  If all you want is a cool exchange name to put on a dial card, then it's perfectly fine. But if you want to find the actual exchange, the approved list can't give you that with any certainty.

The exchange at the house I grew up in is 345, and I always wondered what the exchange name was for those numbers.  It was only a couple years ago that I learned the old exchange name for our house was actually TOwer (86), which bears no resemblance to the current exchange.  There never was a name for the 345 exchange because it replaced TOwer after exchange names had been officially abandoned.

The next exchange over in our town, which was right down the street, was GRanite, and the new exchange was (and is) GRanite 4.  So one was changed completely, while the other simply had a number appended to it.  
= DARRIN =



Phonesrfun

Yes, the same happened with the exchange I grew up with.  After many years as ALpine 4-1971, Ma Bell built a new exchange in the late 1960's for the area our house was in.  This time, we went to 761-5766 and there was no exchange name designated for this at all.  By then, they had changed from publishing phone books that listed AL4-1971 numbers to being the 254-1971 format.

This all led to having area codes and non-operator assisted DDD (Direct Distance Dialing).

-Bill G

Jim Stettler

Here one of early exchanges was 635.
It was originally MELrose, then MElrose 5, and finally just 635.

Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

oliva7

It occurred to me to finally pry off the cover in the center of my 202 and change the number to my own.  In 1937 and still in 1978 when I was 5, all the Concord NH exchanges were 224, 5, or 8.  When I moved this spring, I asked Fairpoint for a number in those exchanges and they obliged.   I plan to print a blank and glue it over the original.  Failing that I can type the numbers on a tan adhesive label and stick that on.   

But this is off the point.  Just for curiosity's sake, how can I determine what letters went with 22x?  My 1937 city directory (coincidence) is no help, as most numbers listed are one, two, and three digits, assuming you know do dial 4 and the correct number of zeroes.   I will go out on a limb and suggest ABbot, a local name, but it could have been CAbot, or anything.

Russ Kirk

This site might help a bit. However,  I think it mught be a little behind with the updates.

Telephone EXchange Name Project

http://ourwebhome.com/TENP/TENproject.html

- Russ Kirk
ATCA & TCI

jsowers

Searching their database is a little odd because they have states listed several ways, so I thought I would look for you. It says 22 in Concord, NH is CApitol. And it's not CApital with an "a" at the end. It's CApitol, like the record company or the Capitol in Washington, DC.

Here is a site with lots of cards to give you an idea of how it's supposed to look...

http://www.telephonearchive.com/numbercards/index.html

If you're handy with Photoshop, you could download and modify one of the card jpgs and put in your exchange. There are a few with the "a" CApital, but I couldn't see any with the "o" CApitol. For a regular 202, the classic WE Type I or II cards would be appropriate for the years it was made. Later in the 50s the Imperial and Continental 202s would have had the Type III cards.
Jonathan

oliva7

A thousand thanks- tusen tack- for saving me the metaphorical legwork, jsowers, and thanks to you, too, Mr Kirk, for giving me a new website to play with.  I'm embarrassed I didn't think of CApital, not only is it a bit obvious, but there are dozens of local businesses with that name.   I did download a copy of the same blank and I am sufficiently skilled with Photoshop to scale it.  

Now, I know my mother's childhood exchange was OLympic (Natick), and I think father's was PLeasant (Worcester 753)...

AE_Collector

#40
Area's had many different exchange names for the NNX digits that were in use in the area. And of course the name may have changed over the years from when it was a 5 or 6 digit phone number versus a 7 digit number. In Greater vancouver, 22x was "CAstle" but prior to that it was ALMa and prior to that it was Point Grey (manual office then, non dial).

Terry

poplar1

Terry, what other Canadian cities used 3 letter + 4 numbers? (In US it was only New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago).
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

AE_Collector

#42
Oh I'm sorry. That was my bad typing again. Should have been ALma. I don't know of any 3L 4D exchanges in Canada but I haven't researched it other than in Britsh Columbia.

I fixed my typo above.

Terry

Dan/Panther

Quote from: oliva7 on July 11, 2012, 01:40:56 PM
It occurred to me to finally pry off the cover in the center of my 202 and change the number to my own.  In 1937 and still in 1978 when I was 5, all the Concord NH exchanges were 224, 5, or 8.  When I moved this spring, I asked Fairpoint for a number in those exchanges and they obliged.   I plan to print a blank and glue it over the original.  Failing that I can type the numbers on a tan adhesive label and stick that on.   

But this is off the point.  Just for curiosity's sake, how can I determine what letters went with 22x?  My 1937 city directory (coincidence) is no help, as most numbers listed are one, two, and three digits, assuming you know do dial 4 and the correct number of zeroes.   I will go out on a limb and suggest ABbot, a local name, but it could have been CAbot, or anything.

Oliva7;
I would save the old card and just replace it with your new one.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Babybearjs

I just started using my exchange name.... ESsex7-xxxx is mine.... dont know how accurate it is to the area though.....
John