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BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY: 1885
Believe this may have been from the file of George “Udy”Blazetith
DOWN MEMORY LANE
[Welland Tribune, Date Unknown]
If you think your telephone directory is becoming somewhat cumbersome, of if you’re having trouble ripping it in half, consider the 1885 edition.
Welland’s first telephone directory, issued about 29 years after the county of Welland was established, listed a grand total 25 names. The Bell Telephone exchange, then located at C.J. Page’s grocery store, was open for business 12 hours a day on weekdays, 4 hours on special holidays, and 2 hours on the Sabbath. The mini-telephone book, dated December 1885, listed the following names and information as follows:
Beatty and Sons, Main St.
Beatty and Sons, Foundry, Main St.
Burgar, Dr., Office, Main St.
Burgar, J.H. Druggist, Main St.
Court House, (Sheriff’s Office) Main St.
Dexter House, E. Hoover, Prop., Main St.
Duncan, C.J., (Sheriff) Residence, Main St.
Fraser, House, F. Tuckett, Prop., Main St.
Garner, L.V., Auctioneer, Residence, Main St.
Great North-Western Telegraph Co., Main St.
Gross, J.F., Pump Manufacturer, Main St.
Harcourt and Cowper, Barristers, Main St.
Hill, J.F., Ins. Agt., Residence, Aqueduct St.
Hobson Bros., Druggists and Div. Court Office, Main St.
Imperial Bank, Muir St.
Michigan Central Railway Station, Muir St.
Page, C.J., Merchant, Main St.
Page, J.C., Dep. Registrar, Residence, Division St.
Registry Office, Main St.
Sullivan, J., (Government Contractor), Residence, Main St.
Telegraph Printing Office, Main St.
Tufts, D., Omnibus Line, Division St.
Welland House, P.W. Raymer, Prop., Main St.
Welland Station, Main St.
Williams, A. Barrister, Main St.
In the accompanying photograph, taken in 1909, a telephone line crew provided an unusual sight in those days. The modification of the skyline was one of the first steps in providing the incredible technological changes in communications of the future.
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