Alpena and Northeastern Michigan’s telephone history
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ALPENA -- With today's smartphone you can be on the corner of Chisholm Street and 2nd Avenue, boating on Long Lake, or U.S. 23 south near Nicholson Hill Road and dial up someone in New Zealand and be connected in well under a minute. Or, with your cellular, text a message to a friend in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, check Cincinnati's weather forecast, and order a pizza to be delivered to your residence.
Sandwiched between today's technology and Alpena's first telephone were land lines. Well over three decades ago land lines transmitted facsimiles and connected you to the internet via noisy dialup.
Going back further in years, the telephones were once touch tones and prior to that rotary dial units. The telephones came in various colors and models ranging from desktop, wall units, multi-line telephones, to fashionable princess slender design.
In the late 1960s my father was a sales executive with the then, General Telephone and Electronics Company. He drove a company owned Chevrolet four door sedan with a massive whip antenna bolted to the left rear side of the car. On the floor, near the front seat, was a large black dial telephone. In the vehicle's trunk was a massive, encased battery and communications box.
My father would pick up the phone and dial "O" to then be connected to a mobile operator. The operator would take the city and number you requested. A process, which I recall, took at least two to three minutes to conduct.
My father and I really thought this was the height of coolness.
With an abundance of new telephones, in 2001, Alpena and the region's area code changed from 517 to 989.
In years past, if you had a "need to know" moment in northeastern Michigan you could dial dedicated numbers for the time and weather. These free calls were sponsored by northeastern Michigan business and service firms.
Post World War II, pay telephones began to rapidly appear in restaurants, taverns, hotels, at the hospital, retail stores, on street corners near business firms, and other heavy traffic sites. The telephone would be bolted to the wall or in some instances in a wooden or metal and glass phone booth. The booth would accommodate one or two people when the accordion style swing door closed.
Going back even further the majority of Alpena's dial in lines were preceded with Elwood (EL) followed by five numbers.
Before dial numbers you lifted the receiver and talked with the operator to connect you. You would tell the operator, "Please connect me to 258" which in 1920 would connect you to the L. J. Wixon Chevrolet dealership.
A Brief History: When Alpena's Telephone System Arrived
Alpena historian and author, Robert E. Haltiner noted in his book, "The Town That Wouldn't Die", Alpena installed its first telephone line in 1879.
As 1880 entered, Alpena's population was at 6,000 residents. By the decade's mid-years, the population soared to over 10,000. It was in this period that Alpena's telephone exchange was put into use.
Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library's Special Collection research noted, "In the fall of 1881, Detroit Telephone and Telegraph Construction Company representatives visited Alpena to make arrangements for the creation of a public telephone exchange."
The research went on to state, "Already several prominent business entities and individuals subscribed to the telephone exchange. The list included F.W. Gilchrist, George. L. Maltz, and W.H. Potter."
The research continued, "The creation of the Alpena Exchange Telephone and Telegraph Construction Company was planned for September of the same year, with the hopes of other parties committing to adding their locations to the new line."
In October 1881, William. Dunbar moved to Alpena to begin work as the manager of the new telephone company. The company operated from the third floor of the Bostwick block located at the corner of Second Avenue and River Street.
Many of the future Alpena telephone companies, including Michigan Bell, also operated from the same building.
From 1882 to 1889 the telephone company began a massive undertaking to connect residences and business firms.
A final memorable moment was just a few years ago when households, business firms, and phone booths offered White Pages for residential phone listings and Yellow Pages for businesses and services.
Now, these inquiries are now connected online.
It is also interesting to note, from Haltiner's book, in 1883 Alpena began the process of installing the first electric streetlamps, water was being pumped from Thunder Bay, and underground natural gas lines were being installed to serve households and business firms.
Today, your hand-held telephone is state-of-the-art. However, your telephone has a rich northeastern Michigan history which goes back over 145 years.
Jeffrey D. Brasie is a retired health care CEO. He frequently writes feature stories and op-eds for various newspapers, magazines, and social media sites. As a Vietnam-era veteran, he served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on the public affairs staff of the Secretary of the Navy. He grew up in Alpena and resides in suburban Detroit.