Washington State Phone Directories

[Westrex]

If you want .PDF versions of directories for Kirkland, Kenmore, Bothell, and Redmond, you can view them here: https://kirklandheritage.org/resources/early-phone-books/

To download the Jan. 1940 phone directory for Mt. Vernon, go here: https://mvhpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/1940.pdf

The 1925 Olympia directory can be viewed here: https://ssoih.com/1925/index.html

The modern Yellow Pages print directories can be viewed here: https://www.therealyellowpages.com/skin/entry/map.php

You can buy directories on CD-ROM, from here: https://www.spyralsearchsales.com/washington.html

If I find any more uploaded-to-the-web directories, I'll post them here.

Also, if anyone has a relatively good image of the cover for the 1958 Seattle directory, could you please PM me or post it here?

[SUnset2]

The page at the link below has a very small photo of the 1958 cover, along with a typed version of the prefix conversion chart.
http://uneeda-audio.com/stuff/tel_pfxs.htm

[Kellogg Kitt]

I am surprised that they did the whole city at once instead of phasing it in over months or years.

Doing it all at once had the advantage of allowing them to coordinate the changes with a new directory, as well as getting the pain done and over with all at once.  Hit everybody at the same time instead of a having series of several massive number change events in different areas.  If everyone in town knew that *everyone's* number would change on that day, they would know not to bother even trying the old 6 digit number.

Considering that back then, the changes would have required physical work in the CO, it is pretty impressive that they could do so many changes all in one day.  Could they possibly have cut over the entire city all in one instant, or would this likely have taken many hours, with some service outages while the changes were happening?

[SUnset2]

Doing it piecemeal would still have required changing all the equipment to be able to handle mixed 6 and 7 digit numbers, which would have been complicated.  The changeover included suburban areas served by an independent telephone company as well.  At that time, all of Seattle was served by panel and crossbar switching equipment, and the suburban areas by step-by-step.

[Westrex]

Hey SUnset2,

Isn't your username the alpha-numeric prefix for the neighborhood of Ballard (prefix 782)?

If anyone wants to view the alpha-numeric prefixes for Seattle, go here: http://uneeda-audio.com/stuff/tel_pfxs.htm

[SUnset2]

Hey SUnset2,
Isn't your username the alpha-numeric prefix for the neighborhood of Ballard (prefix 782)?

Why yes, it is.  When I was born, my parents lived on Queen Anne Hill, and had a GArfield number.  A few months after I was born, it was changed to an ATwater 2 number.  Later that year, we moved to the Ballard area, and got a SUnset 2 number.  When my parents needed to move to a care facility, I had their number ported to my cell phone.  So I currently have the same number I had in 1958, though I no longer live in Ballard.

BTW, the GArfield (later ATwater 2) exchange was a Panel switching system, and the SUnset 2 exchange was a No. 1 Crosbar.

If you want more history of the telephone exchanges in the Seattle area, PM me, I have some documentation that I downloaded from a now-defunct web site.
The Wayback Machine has the Seattle Exchange History at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150628191338/http://xrtc.net/f/phreak/history/exchange-index.shtml

[Westrex]

The page at the link below has a very small photo of the 1958 cover, along with a typed version of the prefix conversion chart.
http://uneeda-audio.com/stuff/tel_pfxs.htm

Here's a download for the full high-quality image, from a link that used to be on the site.

[Westrex]

Covers from many a Pacific Northwest Bell directory.

[Westrex]

And more Pacific Northwest Bell directories:

[Westrex]

More directories & Health & Safety pamphlets.

[Westrex]

Here are some directories, Health & Safety pamphlets, a recreation guide (road map), and some other stuff.

[SUnset2]

Nice directories, Westrex.  Are those from your collection?

I particularly like the 1965 directory that shows the suburban prefixes.

Here are a few that I have accumulated.  The older ones don't have very interesting covers, though some have interesting advertising on the backs.

[Westrex]

Nice directories, Westrex.  Are those from your collection?

I particularly like the 1965 directory that shows the suburban prefixes.

Here are a few that I have accumulated.  The older ones don't have very interesting covers, though some have interesting advertising on the backs.

No, sadly none of these books are mine. These are all from E-Bay auctions, and these images will probably be here after auctions expire. My favorite cover is the 1964 cover (the one with the quarter on it). By the way, on the back of the 1931 book, the bottom ad is for Puget Sound Power (later just Puget Power) which is now Puget Sound Energy (still in business today).

[SUnset2]

... By the way, on the back of the 1931 book, the bottom ad is for Puget Sound Power (later just Puget Power) which is now Puget Sound Energy (still in business today).

At one time Puget Sound Power and Light served most of Seattle, before Seattle City Light was formed.  According to my neighbor 40 years ago, when he first moved to Ballard in the 1930s, PSP&L had poles down one side of the street, and SCL had poles down the other.  You could choose who you bought your power from.  Some people had two meters and a switch.  Eventually Seattle City Light bought out PSP&L for the city of Seattle, and suburban areas directly North and South.

Around the turn of the century, a similar situation existed with both Seattle Automatic Telephone Exchange and Sunset Telephone & Telegraph serving Seattle. Sunset bought out its competitor, and then merged with Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co.

References:
https://www.historylink.org/File/1687
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_Bell

[Westrex]

A couple more Seattle Directory covers (including a few from General Telephone & US West Communications):