TELEPHONE SERVICE

Early switch board. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

TELEPHONE SERVICE. Revolutionary means of instant communication. Edward T. KEIM brought telephone service to Dubuque as a result of his experience at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876. At the Exposition, Keim was given the opportunity of transmitting sounds over a telephone line and discussing the potential of the machine with its inventor, Alexander Graham Bell.

Keim returned to Dubuque but waited until 1878 to write to Theodore Vail, general manager of the National Bell Telephone Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Keim was told that to establish a telephone system in Dubuque, George Engle of Cedar Rapids would have to be contacted. Engle was National Bell's exclusive agent for a large part of Iowa.

Keim was joined in organizing the Dubuque telephone service by D. H. Ogden, a member of the Engle company. The firm of Keim and Ogden later was renamed the Dubuque Telephone Exchange Company.

On May 20, 1879, construction of the Dubuque telephone exchange began. The company's main office was located on Main Street between Fifth and Sixth STREETS at the rear of the insurance office of Smith and Piaster. Plans for the switchboard, plugs, and transmitters were furnished by an electrical firm in Boston. The switchboard, made in Dubuque, was the first produced west of Chicago. Made of black walnut, the cabinet was manufactured by the DUBUQUE CABINET MAKERS' ASSOCIATION while the brass work was produced by John Hartig of Dubuque.

The first operator for the local exchange was Sam C. Peasley who later became the president of the East Dubuque Savings Bank. The first line foreman was Chester K. Mead.

The growth of the Dubuque exchange was dramatic with twelve telephones on line when the company started and thirty by the end of the following month. Within one year the number of customers exceeded two hundred fifty. Keim was the first manager of the company. Sam Peaslee was the first telephone operator.

The use of the telephone as a source of entertainment began as early as 1879. The first telephone on the hill was installed at the home of H. A. Harkett in 1879. A telephone connection, made between Dubuque and Burlington over the C.B.& Q railroad telegraph line, allowed Dubuque residents to hear the Burlington Band. Subscribers to the Exchange were able to hear the Julien Band play a concert from the Heeb brewery. The clarity of sound impressed many residents. C. S. Burt of East Dubuque was linked by a telephone line nearly five miles long to Peter OLINGER of Dubuque on June 17, 1879. The ticking of a watch could be heard. On June 19, 1883, the cities of Dubuque and Cascade were linked by telephone lines. Dubuque and Monticello were connected the same year.

The rapid acceptance of telephone service quickly caused the Dubuque Telephone Exchange to meet stiff business competition. The Western Union Telegraph Company organized a second telephone supplier using Edison telephones. On April 20, 1889 the Dubuque Telephone Company was organized. Its officers were G. W. Kiesel, president; L.G. Hurd, vice-president; and Benjamin Franklin BLOCKLINGER, secretary and treasurer. By 1911 the company had 1,880 subscribers and over four hundred miles of wiring in service. The two companies eventually merged and underwent a series of name changes including the Western Telephone Company, Central Union Telephone Company, and the Iowa Telephone Company, predecessor of Northwestern Bell Telephone Company.

Continued acceptance of the telephone led by 1906 to the construction of a new building at 824 Locust Street. By 1945 all available space was occupied in this building. This building was vacated by the telephone company in 1951 and was used by Landon's a Dubuque furrier, as a storage space until 1959. The telephone company's business office moved to 221 West 9th in the BANK AND INSURANCE BUILDING.

In the 1940s the DUBUQUE CUSTOM HOUSE AND POST OFFICE building at 9th and Locust was demolished to make room for the last telephone company building to be located in Dubuque.

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Source:

"First Office Phone Here Installed by Dubuque Herald," Telegraph Herald, Mar. 2, 1924