History
From the Archives: Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph
This Greek Revival house was located on the northwest corner of Crawford and Monroe streets. It was probably built in the 1850s and according to an article in the Vicksburg Evening Post, a 12-inch mortar shell exploded in front of the house during the siege.
Remnants of the shell were found when a hole for a telephone pole was dug in 1897 and they were put on display in the building. In 1886, the building was the home of A. A. Trescott and J. B. Trescott. In 1895, it was home to J. T. Kern and his family. But in May of 1897, the building was leased to the Great Southern Telephone and Telegraph Company.
Great Southern was in competition for phone subscribers with the People’s Telephone and Telegraph Company. Both companies were hurriedly putting up poles and stringing lines across Vicksburg, sometimes interfering with each other.
The Vicksburg Evening Post reported on June 17, 1897 that “South Street between Washington and Cherry presented quite an animated appearance this evening at 3 p.m. The two telephone companies were rushing as fast as possible to see which one should obtain the right of way. It seems that the company that put up their lines first, has the right of way, and the other company, either has to place their wires higher or lower. This evening the men of the two different construction forces came very near having a personal collision. The services of the police were called in to prevent anything that would lead to a breach of the peace.”
Within that year, Great Southern was consolidated into the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company and the house continued to be “very artistically fixed up” for the public. Two double-lined oak-finished booths for long-distance calls were installed and, in the lobby, customers could amuse themselves with a bowl full of goldfish.
There were “five intelligent, bright, well trained young ladies kept very busy every day in receiving and answering their daily average of 6,000 calls.” The November 15, 1898 article in the Post continued, “cross, ill-natured tired people who have occasion to vent their ill humor or anger on somebody, ought to remember this when tempted to take it out on the patient telephone operator. She certainly has troubles of her own at best.”
The building was set on fire twice in 1898, causing little damage each time, but making some wonder if the opposing telephone company was to blame. In 1921, the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company demolished the house and built the existing building which was used as the telephone exchange until 1960 when a new building was constructed on Cherry Street by Southern Bell Telephone, the next owner of Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph.
Courtesy of Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation.
– Nancy Bell, Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation.
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