Occasionally there appears to be some interest regarding early Chicago exchanges. Here is a compilation from our good friend Bill Caughlin who is the Corporate Archivist for the AT&T Archives. Hopefully the columns will remain formatted-
Evolution of Local Telephone Numbers in Chicago
February 27, 2004
Contrary to popular belief, there were no central office prefixes in the beginning. To place a call on June 26, 1878, when the Bell-licensed Chicago Telephonic Exchange first opened, the subscriber merely told the operator the name and address of the party desired. For purposes of identification, the original telephone switchboard at 125 LaSalle St. was known as Central office. Two other offices soon opened and were called the Halsted Street branch and the Canal Street branch.
By 1883, these three central offices had grown to 11, and around that time the Bell System-affiliated Chicago Telephone Company (formed in 1881) began to refer to most of them by number. Thus, the switchboard at 125 LaSalle St. became known as the No. 2 office. By then, too, subscribers were requested to call by number rather than by name.
The initial digit of the phone number generally indicated the telephone central office; that is, the subscriber who had "3123" as the call number was served from No. 3 office at Chicago Ave. and Clark St. The three offices lying just outside the city limits had no numerical designation and were known as Stock Yards, Oakland and Ravenswood. In 1889, Stock Yards was changed to Yards and Ravenswood to Lake View. In that same year, telephone growth brought about the first use of 5-digit numbers, the Oakland series running from 9800 to 10,999 and the Lake View series from 12,001 to 12,499. This first call number system was inflexible, however, because it allowed little latitude for growth.
By 1892, on the eve of the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition, it became apparent that the city was rapidly outgrowing the old numbering scheme, and in that year the change to a system of combined prefix and number was made. Beginning February 15, a subscriber served from No. 3 office had his/her number change from "3123" to "North 123." Below is the entire list of changes.
Old Designation Serving #s Changed to
No. 2 office 1 to 2999 Main 1 to Main 2999
No. 3 3001 to 3999 North 1 to North 999
Nos. 4 & 5 4000 to 5399 Main 4000 to Main 5399
No. 7 7001 to 7999 West 1 to West 999
No. 8 8001 to 8999 South 1 to South 999
No. 9 9001 to 9499 Canal 1 to Canal 499
Yards 9500 to 9799 Yards 500 to Yards 799
Oakland 9800 to 10,999 Oakland 800 to Oakland 999
Lake View 12,001 to 12,499 Lake View 1 to Lake View 499
Telephone numbers, therefore, started using the central office name as the prefix. This second system remained in effect for nearly 30 years.
In June 1921, Illinois Bell Telephone Company (formed in December 1920 from the merger of Chicago Telephone Company and the Illinois properties of Central Union Telephone Company) adopted the citywide 3-letter 4-number plan, effective with the delivery of the October telephone directory. At that time, all phone numbers with less than four digits were changed to add zeros ahead of the number to make four numerals in all cases (for example, "NORth 0029"). Certain names, such as "Monticello," were replaced because their numerical equivalents, in this case "666," conflicted with other existing offices, like "Monroe." As a result, "Monticello" became "Juniper." This change was necessary for the launch of automatic dial service, first introduced in Chicago with the cutover of "CENtral" prefix (in the Franklin Building at 315 W. Washington St.) on June 9, 1923.
The fourth alteration in Chicago's calling plan was the conversion to 2-letters and 5-numbers across the city on September 18, 1948 (for instance, "CEntral 6-1234"). As with the implementation of central office prefixes in 1892, the change to the 2-letter 5-number plan was necessary to provide additional telephone numbers required by the enormous demand for phone service after World War II.
The following is the complete list of Chicago and Evanston central office names and their corresponding prefixes, adopted in 1948. This system allowed for additional prefix equivalents without the invention of new exchange names.
Aberdeen AB 4
Albany AL 2
Ambassador AM 2
Andover AN 3
Ardmore AR 1
Armitage AR 6
Atlantic AT 5
Austin AU 7
Avenue AV 3
Bayport BA 1
Belmont BE 5
Berkshire BE 7
Beverly BE 8
Bishop BI 7
Bittersweet BI 8
Boulevard BO 8
Briargate BR 4
Brunswick BR 8
Buckingham BU 1
Butterfield BU 8
Calumet CA 5
Canal CA 6
Capitol CA 7
Cathedral CA 8
Cedarcrest CE 3
Central CE 6
Chesapeake CH 3
Cliffside CL 4
Columbus CO 1
Commodore CO 4
Cornelia CO 7
Crawford CR 7
Danube DA 6
Davis DA 8
Dearborn DE 2
Delaware DE 7
Dickens DI 2
Diversey DI 8
Dorchester DO 3
Drexel DR 3
Eastgate EA 7
Edgewater ED 4
Elmdrive EL 6
Englewood EN 4
Essex ES 5
Estebrook ES 8
Everglade EV 4
Fairfax FA 4
Financial FI 6
Fire FI 7
Franklin FR 2
Frontier FR 6
Graceland GR 2
Greenleaf GR 5
Grovehill GR 6
Harrison HA 7
Haymarket HA 1
Hemlock HE 4
Hilltop HI 5
Hollycourt HO 5
Hudson HU 3
Humboldt HU 6
Hyde Park HY 3
Independence IN 3
Interocean IN 8
Irving IR 8
Juniper JU 8
Kedzie KE 3
Kenwood KE 6
Keystone KE 9
Kildare KI 5
Lafayette LA 3
Lakeview LA 5
Lawndale LA 1
Lincoln LI 9
Livingston LI 8
Longbeach LO 1
Mansfield MA 6
Merrimac ME 7
Michigan MI 2
Midway MI 3
Mohawk MO 4
Monroe MO 6
Mulberry MU 5
Museum MU 4
National NA 2
Nevada NE 8
Newcastle NE 1
Normal NO 7
Oakland OA 4
Official OF 3
Palisade PA 5
Pensacola PE 6
Plaza PL 2
Police PO 5
Portsmouth PO 7
Prospect PR 6
Pullman PU 5
Radcliffe RA 3
Randolph RA 6
Ravenswood RA 8
Regent RE 4
Reliance RE 5
Republic RE 7
Rockwell RO 2
Rodney RO 3
Rogers Park RO 4
Sacramento SA 2
Saginaw SA 1
Seeley SE 3
Sheldrake SH 3
South Chicago SO 8
South Shore SO 8
Spaulding SP 2
Spring SP 7
State ST 2
Stewart ST 3
Sunnyside SU 4
Superior SU 7
Taylor TA 9
Triangle TR 4
Tuxedo TU 9
University UN 4
Uptown UP 8
Van Buren VA 6
Victory VI 2
Vincennes VI 6
Virginia VI 7
Wabash WA 2
Wagner WA 4
Walbrook WA 5
Waterfall WA 8
Weather WE 4
Webster WE 9
Wellington WE 5
Wentworth WE 6
Whitehall WH 4
Yards YA 7
The fifth and final telephone number scheme began with the conversion to All Number Calling (ANC) on September 11, 1960. Despite some early opposition from individuals and businesses who wanted to retain their beloved exchange prefixes, this evolutionary process was finally completed in 1977. At that point, the Chicago alphabetical directory showed all local numbers in the city to be in the now familiar 7-digit format still in use today (such as, "236-1234").
Thanks G- Man, great info! I don't remember number exchanges at all...I was a child of the 70's. My grandma's exchange was Pensacola. She also told me she had a payphone in her home. I thought that ws strange. I didn't know they had payphones in private homes. She is looking to see if she still has it on the basement.
Thanks
Mo
Quote from: MagicMo on May 22, 2013, 11:49:05 AM
Thanks G- Man, great info! I don't remember number exchanges at all...I was a child of the 70's. My grandma's exchange was Pensacola. She also told me she had a payphone in her home. I thought that ws strange. I didn't know they had payphones in private homes. She is looking to see if she still has it on the basement.
Thanks
Mo
It most likely would have been a Western Electric 7-series coin collector. They were first introduced in San Francisco by John Saber who was then the president of Pacific Telephone and when he was loaned to the Chicago Telephone Company to clean up their operations he introduced it there and a few other cites as well. Chicago seemed to be the only city where it remained popular though.
When I was 15 years old my parents thretened to put a payphone in since I spent all night on the phone with my girlfriend!
Instead I got my own phone installed on a new line. I was so thrilled when the next phone book came out and I was in it! Along with 10,000 other Smiths'.
My mother always tells me that her grandmother in Chicago had a payphone in her apartment. That must have been in the 1940s and/or early 50s.
Where I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, the local exchanges were 965, 966, and 967, but some phone numbers were listed with the exchange as "YOrktownn". I remember asking my mother why that was in the early 70s.
Larry
Quote from: LarryInMichigan on May 22, 2013, 08:03:32 PM
My mother always tells me that her grandmother in Chicago had a payphone in her apartment. That must have been in the 1940s and/or early 50s.
Where I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, the local exchanges were 965, 966, and 967, but some phone numbers were listed with the exchange as "YOrktownn". I remember asking my mother why that was in the early 70s.
Larry
Where I grew up, in the very early '60's our kitchen metal dial 554 dial card had MEdford 7-3759, whereas, my parent's Rose Beige 500 in their bedroom had the area code top, 637-3759. I still have both.
The local directory, at that point, had
most numbers listed in the ###-#### format,
but pretty much
all the local businesses that advertised throughout it used the ME7-xxxx format, both in the White Pages, and their ads in the Yellow.
Probably to maintain familiarity with a long-established customer base, I would surmise.
Best regards!
My mom said our exchange was SPring 4 (not 7). Is she right?
Quote from: MagicMo on May 22, 2013, 10:26:06 PM
My mom said our exchange was SPring 4 (not 7). Is she right?
It looks like that exchange (774) covers the Edison Park and Norwood Park (possibly Edgebrook also) neighborhoods, so that sounds entirely believable to me. I remember calling numbers in that exchange in my younger years (back when it was 312-774).
Larry
Quote from: MagicMo on May 22, 2013, 10:26:06 PM
My mom said our exchange was SPring 4 (not 7). Is she right?
Entirely possible since this is a list of exchanges as they existed in 1948. Others were added through the years, especially right after WWII to meet the pent-up demand for telephone service.
Doing a little bit of reanimation after 6 years of silence :)
I recently obtained an old Chicago phone number. Area code 312, Exchange 761 (ROgers Park 1). The four digit number starts with a 0, probably from 1921 when they started the three letters four digit numbers and added a Zero ahead of the number to make a four digit one-
So from 1948 to 1960 the Number was: 312 ROgers Park 1-0231
Anybody here who knows how that number would have been in the 3 letters 4 digit time from 1921 to 1948? Maybe an old phone dictionary could help, usually they had all exchange names listet on one of the first pages.
Haf
There are no letters associated with the figure "1" on the dial. Therefore, ROgers Park 1- central office must have been added after 1948.
ROgers Park 4- would have been earlier since RO 4- and ROG- are both dialed the same way (764-).
Thanks poplar1, of course you're right, there is no letter associated with 1. Should have noticed myself.
Meanwhile I found a very good article: "A History of the Rogers Park Telephone Office"
http://www.verycomputer.com/28_cd4860b340f6051d_1.htm
(I don't have any idea how to save this article except copying the whole text in here in the next post)
Here is the text directly relatet to Rogers Park 1:
"September 18, 1948: Most of Chicago, including Rogers Park had been converted
to automatic dialing in lieu of manual calling. The Rogers Park neighborhood
exchanges converted to the two letter, five figure numbering system.
The third letter of the exchange name became the first digit of the five.
Old style numbers less than four digits took leading zeros as filler when
the dial conversion was complete, i.e. a number such as ROGers Park 6
became RO-4-0006.
July 25, 1949: "ROgers Park-1" opened as the sixth prefix in the area.
December 31, 1950: Stations in service on six prefixes in Rogers Park
totalled 53,055. Prefixes were "ROgers Park-1", "ROgers Park-4", "SHeldrake-3",
"BRiargate-4", "HOllycourt-5" and "AMbassador-2".
April 28, 1957: "BRoadway-4" opened as a theoretical prefix in "BRiargate-4",
which it will eventually replace. "
Haf
Now the complete Article:
A History of the Rogers Park Telephone Office
A History of the Rogers Park Telephone Office
Post by TELECOM Moderat ยป Mon, 02 Jul 1990 03:02:00
The information in this article comes to me courtesy of the Rogers Park
Historical Society here in Chicago. Their source of information comes from
notes prepared March 5, 1958 by R. L. Mahan, an employee of Illinois Bell,
for the occassion of the 75th anniversary of telephone service in Rogers
Park, the Chicago neighborhood in which I reside.
September 15, 1883: Rogers Park was served by a toll station from Chicago.
The charge was 25 cents for 5 minutes of connection. The name and address
given in the directory of the Chicago Telephone Company was simply, "Rogers
Park, public toll station # 1".
September 15, 1886: In the Chicago Telephone Company directory issued this
date, two toll stations are listed, with the second one being "Dr. C.H.
Burbank, drug store, toll station # 2".
July 15, 1889: The south edge of the present (1958) Rogers Park office (that
below Devon Avenue) was annexed to Chicago, as a part of the city then known
as Lakeview.
April 4, 1893: The territory east of Kedzie Avenue and between Howard Street
and Devon (most of the present [1958] Rogers Park office) was annexed to
the city of Chicago. This included the villages of Rogers Park and West
Ridge.
December 1, 1895: The Chicago Telephone Company announced the establishment
of a telephone exchange in Rogers Park. The proposed rate for service was
$42 per year for local community service, with a toll fee for calls to
Chicago.
January 1, 1897: The wiring and installation of the exchange was complete,
and it opened for business this date. The switchboard was located in the
drug store at the corner of Clark Street and Lunt Avenue, and was operated
by the wife of the pharmacist and her family.
1903: At year end, stations in service throughout Rogers Park totaled 372,
versus 255 the year before.
February 1, 1905: The switchboard was moved to the building at the rear
of the drug store (actually 722 Lunt Street). Chicago Telepone Company
announced that effective that date, service would be provided 24 hours per
day, seven days per week. Prior, the board had been open during the day
and early evening hours, and closed on Sunday. The residents of the
community had a 'gentlemen's agreement' with the operator: Calls would not
be placed during overnight hours or on Sunday when she was off duty except
in cases of emergency. In a middle of the night emergency, a loud bell
connected to the switchboard rang when a phone went off hook and it would
awaken her, sleeping nearby.
September 1, 1909: The street number of the phone office changed to 1754
West Lunt, when all house numbers were changed to conform with the new
street numbering system in Chicago.
1909: The village of Birchwood (including the Germania community in the
far south end of Evanston) was served from Rogers Park on "Birchwood"
theoretical prefix.
March 6, 1915: Rogers Park office cutover; many number changes were
involved. The "Birchwood" theoretical prefix was discontinued. The office
moved to its present ([1958] and still, in 1989) location, 1622 West
Pratt Avenue.
April 24, 1915: Area north of Howard Street, east of the Elevated tracks
and north to the south boundary of Calvary Cemetery (neighborhood known
as "Little Germania") annexed to the city of Chicago, and served by the
new "Rogers Park" prefix.
March 13, 1920: Area along the lake front which had been served by the
Edgewater office (1007 stations) was transferred to the Rogers Park
office. The "Sheldrake" prefix was started to accomodate these phones.
Some of the residents in the area had "Rogers Park" numbers, and as
nearly as possible kept the same number, but with "Sheldrake" as the
new prefix. Records indicate that a John Townson, whose telephone number
was formerly "Rogers Park 6" was transferred to "Sheldrake 1".
1921-23: The Chicago Telephone Company was aquired by the rapidly growing
American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and over a two year period, all
facilities of Chicago Telephone were transferred to the control of the
newly formed corporation, "Illinois Bell Telephone Company". Throughout
its history until now (1958), Illinois Bell was never owned exclusively
by AT&T. Although AT&T owned and still owns about 95 percent of the stock
in the corporation, about 5 percent is owned by private investors, who
retained some stock rights from their prior ownership of Chicago Telephone.
April, 1925: "Briargate" opens as a third prefix in the area.
April, 1928: "Hollycourt" opened as a fourth prefix.
September, 1940: "Ambassador" opened as a theoretical prefix in the
Sheldrake exchange.
September 18, 1948: Most of Chicago, including Rogers Park had been converted
to automatic dialing in lieu of manual calling. The Rogers Park neighborhood
exchanges converted to the two letter, five figure numbering system.
The third letter of the exchange name became the first digit of the five.
Old style numbers less than four digits took leading zeros as filler when
the dial conversion was complete, i.e. a number such as ROGers Park 6
became RO-4-0006.
July 25, 1949: "ROgers Park-1" opened as the sixth prefix in the area.
December 31, 1950: Stations in service on six prefixes in Rogers Park
totalled 53,055. Prefixes were "ROgers Park-1", "ROgers Park-4", "SHeldrake-3",
"BRiargate-4", "HOllycourt-5" and "AMbassador-2".
April 28, 1957: "BRoadway-4" opened as a theoretical prefix in "BRiargate-4",
which it will eventually replace.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
At the bottom of Mr. Mahon's notes, dated in 1958, the following additional
notes had been written in:
February, 1961: All number calling prefix 338 was opened. Ironically, had
we still been going with exchange names, 338 would have been presented as
"DEvon-8", a logical choice, the main street in the area being named Devon.
September 16, 1962: Direct distance dialing for station to station calls
became available to phones in the community. We can call many places in
the United States by just dialing three more digits at the start of the
number.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Rogers Park Telephone Statistics:
other/
Year Total 1-party 2-party 4-party business
1900 85 unk unk unk unk
1905 372 23 unk unk unk
1910 2117 172 169 1553 243
1915 5322 700 388 3657 577
1920 12,376 2073 1072 7574 1657
1925 23,648 5355 5202 9572 3519
1930 36,691 11,861 12,823 5725 6282
1935 35,732 8556 12,760 8568 5848
1940 40,527 10,055 19,284 4410 6778
1945 43,010 11,994 22,190 2649 6177
1950 53,055 17,984 22,804 1257 11,010
1955 66,547 29,020 18,869 -- 7 18,581
Notes:
1. During the depression years 1930-35, many people could not afford phones
and had to give them up. The net decrease in that period was almost 900
stations; this is the only period in which there was a decrease rather than
an increase. In that same time period, many people chose to give up private
service and take the less expensive party line service.
2. Illinois Bell Telephone Company, successor to Chicago Telephone Company,
discontinued offering four party service in 1949, but 'grandfathered' it
to existing customers. By 1955, it was almost gone. The last of the four
party subscribers dropped out about 1962.
3. Several large business phone installations occurred during the 1950-55
period, and payphones became much more common, appearing on street corners,
the elevated train platforms, etc. In addition, Loyola University of Chicago
greatly expanded its phone service during the early 1950's. This is shown
in the large increase in other/business category in 1950 and 1955.
4. The largest single increase in subscribers was during the 1900-1910
period, when the number of subscribers increased more than twenty fold in
that decade. The increase between 1905 and 1910 alone was six fold. Having
the exchange staffed full time in its own office became a necessity!
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Long after this was prepared and presented at an IBT Company anniversary
dinner, we added the prefix '973' in our area; then five years ago we added
'508'. We 'went ESS' in 1984, as one of the last neighborhoods in the city
to be thus equipped. All the early exchanges are still around, but known
now as 262, 274, 465, 743, 761, and 764. The relative 'newcomers' 338, 508
and 973 never had names.
Patrick Townson
Thank you for posting that, Haf. Really great to read through that and see the evolution and struggles during times past. We are very fortunate to have the communication systems that we now have, especially given the fact that they so reliable, accessible and inexpensive.