Address & Telephone numbers back in 1960

Around here when 911 came in (early 70s) they renamed some streets and went to a county-wide address scheme. So not only did all the address numbers change, but so did some of the street names (they wanted to make sure that there were no duplicate street names anywhere in the county).

This makes it real fun to try to find what an old address is today, because nobody seems to have bothered to keep a list of what changed!
 
My grandmas Phone number was Delaware 3- 8918 So DE 3- 8918 or 333- 8918
 
Yep, when our family got our first phone connected back in the 1970s I was wondering what those 3 letters on top of the numbers stand for (I know now when I saw that ebay picture) and talking about those pesky party lines, ughhhh. :alien:
 
brianl703 said:
... So not only did all the address numbers change, but so did some of the street names (they wanted to make sure that there were no duplicate street names anywhere in the county).

This makes it real fun to try to find what an old address is today, because nobody seems to have bothered to keep a list of what changed!
Click to expand...
An old county map would serve that purpose.
 
The telephone exchange prefix also gave you an idea where the person was calling from. Phone books would have a local map of the prefix areas.
 
Long ago I remember a window company in Cleveland having a jingle on the radio for their phone number....Garfield-1-2323.
 
PimTac said:
The telephone exchange prefix also gave you an idea where the person was calling from. Phone books would have a local map of the prefix areas.
Click to expand...

Maybe a very generalized map, but if you want to know where telephone exchange boundaries are down to the street level, I'm unaware of where to get that info without paying for it.
 
In the ...early 60's... Dad's cousin, let's call him Steve, was in basic training. The drill sgt hollered in in face, asking for his home address..
He replied honestly, but the sgt didn't believe him. Gave him all sorts of **** about it....
" Steve Early, Early Rd , Lima Ohio sir!"
The road's been renamed now, but at that time, it ran through the middle of the old family farm, and there were only a couple houses on it, all in the family....

A few years later, 7/8ths of the farm was sold off.. my Great grandfather was one of 8 kids, the other 7 all contested the will and sued each other for the whole farm...ended up selling their portions to pay the legal bills.

I ended up working with and being Friends with the daughter in law of the guy who bought and subdivided it all...
 
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Lubener said:
Long ago I remember a window company in Cleveland having a jingle on the radio for their phone number....Garfield-1-2323.
Click to expand...
Chicago had a few of those that hung on for decades after the "names and letters" system was phased out..... Hudson 32700 and Mohawk 4 4100. But I can't remember what they were advertising!
 
If my memory is correct, the 2-letter exchange for telephone was based on the the CO (central office) it was located at, and typicallythat was the name of the street it was located on. So, ME (Melrose Street) or ST (State Street).
 
Touring5 said:
If my memory is correct, the 2-letter exchange for telephone was based on the the CO (central office) it was located at, and typicallythat was the name of the street it was located on. So, ME (Melrose Street) or ST (State Street).
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The 2-letter exchange name usually bore no relationship to any geographical feature of the area that it served.

For example, Manassas, VA had EMpire-8 (now 368). There's no street or area in Manassas called "Empire".
 
Touring5 said:
If my memory is correct, the 2-letter exchange for telephone was based on the the CO (central office) it was located at, and typicallythat was the name of the street it was located on. So, ME (Melrose Street) or ST (State Street).
Click to expand...
The 2 letters could also stand for a neighborhood, like my childhood number AD-2 xxxx, AD for the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Wash. DC.
Larger cities would need several exchange buildings back in the bays of mechanical relay switching.

en.wikipedia.org

Telephone exchange names - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
My first phone number started with letters. Thanks for making me feel old :)
HA6-5364
 
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