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HOME
> History > History
Club > Annandale Telephone System
History of the Annandale
Telephone System
Submitted by Karen Christofferson
September, 2008
Annandale
Telephone
System
The following
excerpts are from Memories of
Annandale
, written by Lotus Williams and published in 1983.
A second edition was published by the The Annandale Advocate in 1987.
A copy of Memories of
Annandale is at the
Annandale
Public Library, and copies are for sale at The Annandale Advocate
office. The Annandale
Telephone System section follows the Postal Service section in Chapter 4, Communication.
The invention of the telephone and its widespread use
was the next step in communication. The
citizens of
Annandale
were a progressive group and under the leadership of Llewellyn Williams,
decided to establish a telephone system in
Annandale
and surrounding areas. Subscribers
in town and along the proposed rural lines were contacted and pledged to take
part. The number of subscribers on a
rural line was limited by the number of combinations of rings to be devised from
a long and a short ring. In town, a
party line had fewer subscribers. Telephones
were long wooden boxes attached to the wall and each contained all the machinery
necessary for a telephone. The
Annandale Telephone System was soon a working system.
The first switchboard was rather small and was placed in the north window
space of the drug store which, at this time, was in the Ridgway Block.
Mrs. Ridgways sister, Miss Ada Ponsford, was the first operator at the
first switchboard. The telephone
became very popular and soon a larger switchboard was needed.
It was not long until it warranted a room by itself and the whole
business was moved to a room upstairs in the Rennie building.
L. R. Williams, who promoted the idea, was the first manager.
The success of the project was assured.
Farm wives, who heretofore had contacted their friends only at church or
communal meetings, had led very lonely lives.
Now they could hear the voices of friends, exchange cooking experiences,
ask advice or aid in emergencies and, time permitting, listen in and
acquire a close touch with local affairs. Conflicts
of interest occasionally arose. As a
result, courtesy rules had to be set up. Anyone
having an emergency could request the use of the line.
Differences as to the importance of the business on hand sometimes arose
and tempers boiled over.
Central was a very important item in the system.
Every subscriber was now assigned a number.
If you wished to call someone who was not on your party line, you called
Central. By means of the plugs in
the switchboard, she would connect your line with the line which had the number
you called for. Her memory of names
and numbers and her courtesy and skill had much to do with the build-up of a
successful company. Another employee
of the Telephone System was the linesman who installed the lines, poles, and
telephones. The linesman had to be
an able electrician.
Mr. Harry Kurz was the second manager of the System.
He held that position many years until ill health made it necessary for
him to retire. A successor had to be
found. Mr. John Kiehn and his father
decided to purchase the System and to put Johns brother, William, in charge.
William was attending the
University
of
Minnesota
at that time, but he took over at once. He
was an excellent electrician and managed very well.
He was in charge from 1921 until 1946 when he also became ill and could
not continue. At this time, war
conditions made it increasingly hard to obtain wire and other materials needed
to repair or expand. The Kiehns
decided to sell and the Bishop and Heater Investment Company were the buyers.
This company already owned the telephone
systems of several other small towns nearby.
They reorganized and the Lakedale Telephone System came into being and
Mr. William Saltmarsh was installed as manager.
Lotus
Williams (1889-1994), second Mrs. Llewellyn Williams, teacher, artist, author
Llewellyn Williams (1870-1957) pharmacist, first manager of Annandale
Telephone Systems
Harry Kurz (1881-1938), second manager
William Kiehn (1902-1974), third manager, 1921-1946
[NOTE:
Managers following William Saltmarsh were L. G. ("Bud") Morrow, 1968-1996, and Gene
South, 1996-2009. In 2008 Lakedale John Bishop sold Lakedale to Iowa Telecommunications
Services. -Jill Bishop, 2009]
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