Early History of the Telephone in the Town of Pelham

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

I have written on several occasions about my efforts to determine when the first telephone was installed within the Town of Pelham. United States Patent No. 174,465 for "Telegraphy" was issued to Alexander Graham Bell on March 7, 1876.  For a few examples, see:

Tue., May 03, 2016:  More on the Earliest Installations of Telephones in the Town of Pelham.

Mon., Mar. 24, 2014:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham? When and Where Was it Installed?

Mon., Dec. 21, 2009:  More on What May Have Been the First Telephone Installed in Pelham.

Tue., Mar. 29, 2005:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor?  

Residents of the Town of Pelham seemed to recognize the importance and value of the new invention very early.  On July 19, 1884, the New Rochelle Pioneer reported that during the previous week City Island had been "connected with the outside world by the telephone" and that "Manager Deveau has been quite active the past few days in putting up telephones."  See LOCAL INTELLIGENCE, New Rochelle Pioneer Supplement, Jul. 19, 1884, p. 4, col. 2. The same issue of the New Rochelle Pioneer elsewhere reported that "Several of the tradesmen of City Island concluded that they may as well be buried alive as be out of the fashion, so they have put in telephones in order to keep pace with the times. . . . "  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, New Rochelle Pioneer Supplement, Jul. 19, 1884, p. 4, col. 6.

Though Pelhamites were early adopters of the new technology,  the town was small with few residents in the late 19th century.  The technology expanded slowly.  

In the late 19th century, New York Telephone created a central district that included "all that territory bounded on the north by New Rochelle, on the east by New Rochelle and Long Island Sound, on the south by City Island and on the west by Mount Vernon."   The district was served by a central office at New Rochelle so that when Pelham Manor residents cranked their phones and connected with an operator, it was an operator in the New Rochelle central office.

By 1900, the Village of Pelham Manor had fourteen telephone lines with fifteen telephones installed on those lines.  New York Telephone decided that there were enough local telephones in Pelham Manor to create a separate telephone district for the village (which was still served by the central office in New Rochelle).  The rest of the town of Pelham including the Village of Pelham (the Heights) and the Village of North Pelham was included in the Mount Vernon District and was served from the Mount Vernon switchboard.

According to one source:

"The number of subscribers kept growing, however, and in 1908 the two districts were combined and the central office of Pelham was established.  At that time the total number of lines in the Pelham Manor office was 108, with 227 subscribers.  The consolidation resulted in a grand total of 218 lines, serving 473 telephones."

Though it may come as a surprise, between 1908 and 1920, only about one hundred new telephones were installed in Pelham each year.  Then came the Roaring Twenties.  Indeed, in just the first two years the annual installations nearly quadrupled.  By 1922 there were 1,044 telephone lines in ltown serving 2,038 telephones -- without City Island which long before had been annexed by New York City.

To get a sense of the growth of the telephone in the Town of Pelham between 1900 and 1922, the following appeared in the September 3, 1922 issue of The Pelham Sun:  

"Some idea of the regularity with which the New York Telephone Company has developed in Pelham since 1900, may be gained from the following figures:

Year                     Lines     Instru. in use
1900                      14          15
1910                    265        545
1915                    498        901
1920                    773       1393
1922 (Aug. 1)    1014       2036"

Pelham, it seems, had finally fully embraced the technology of the telephone.

1884 Telephone Like Those Installed in Pelham.

*          *          *          *          *

Below is the text of the newspaper article that forms a basis for today's Historic Pelham article.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"Growth And Development Of The Telephone System In Pelham
-----

The development of the telephone business in Pelham has kept pace with the phenomenal growth of the telephone system all over the country during the past few years.  Five hundred and one new telephones were installed in this community in 1921, and the first seven months of 1922, an increase of 300 per cent over the next highest period of growth.  In keeping with this growth the average daily number of calls now originating in the Pelham section is more than 7,000 as compared with 5,800 calls on January 1, 1921; and the daily average of calls during the 'busy hour,' which in telephone means that hour of the day when the most calls are handled ,is approximately 885 -- an increase of more than 200 calls since the same date.

The Pelham central office district comprises all that territory bounded on the north by New Rochelle, on the east by New Rochelle and Long Island Sound, on the south by City Island and on the west by Mount Vernon.  The district is served by the central office at New Rochelle.

The first telephone district of Pelham was known as Pelham Manor and, was also served by New Rochelle.  It was established in 1900 with the small number of fourteen lines and fifteen stations.  The rest of the town of Pelham was included in the Mount Vernon district and was served from the Mount Vernon switchboard.

The number of subscribers kept growing, however, and in 1908 the two districts were combined and the central office of Pelham was established.  At that time the total number of lines in the Pelham Manor office was 108, with 227 subscribers.  The consolidation resulted in a grand total of 218 lines, serving 473 telephones.  

From 1908 to 1920 the number of new telephones installed by the New York Telephone Company was about 100 per year.  The biggest increase in the development and growth of the section has come in the last two years.  Two hundred new instruments were put into use in 1920 and four hundred in 1921.  There are now 1,044 lines serving 2,038 telephones in Pelham.  Only twelve percent of these are for business purposes.

Some idea of the regularity with which the New York Telephone Company has developed in Pelham since 1900, may be gained from the following figures:

Year                     Lines     Instru. in use
1900                      14          15
1910                    265        545
1915                    498        901
1920                    773       1393
1922 (Aug. 1)    1014       2036

From all this it can be seen that the telephone is keeping pace with the development of the village; and that the people of Pelham, like the people throuughout the rest of the United States, are appreciating more and more that the telephone is a necessity in modern life.  When Thomas Pell in 1645 [sic], bought the land Pelham is now located on, he named it with old English words to mean 'remote mansion.'  The Bell system now has changed the ancient meaning of the town, by uniting it to the rest of the world, through the 'modern miracle' -- the telephone."

Source:  Growth And Development Of The Telephone System In Pelham, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 3, 1922, p. 6, cols. 2-3.  

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."