It was once a telephone office

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent
With Leonard Cash
 
Although historian Leonard Cash said he is excited to start his series on the post office, he first wanted to do a short series on the Hansen and Peck law firm building, which sits next to the News Letter Journal building. The law office is on Lot 7, Block 9, formerly a telephone office for Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Co. 
Our look at the building’s past begins with a warranty deed in the courthouse files (Warranty Deed Record Book 20, Page 358), where E.P. Coyle is listed as the first person to obtain possession of the plot from the Lincoln Land Company, on Dec. 15, 1921.
However, Coyle must have failed to pay his taxes because the county took the property for back taxes of $102.39. Around Oct. 28, 1926, Weston County Treasurer Frank T. Vasey sold it to Ellen Horton, according to a tax deed from the Warranty Deed Record Book 20, Page 350.
“Then Coyle got it back somehow or another,” Cash said, because Warranty Deed Record Book 27, Page 388, reported that Coyle sold it to Horton around Dec. 3, 1940. 
Horton then sold it to Eloise Horton Hangrove, according to a deed from page 9 of Warranty Deed Record Book 29. Another deed from Warranty Deed Record Book 40, Page 105, has the same information. The record says that Ellen Horton and Fred Horton (who was a doctor in town and Ellen’s grandfather, whose son was Dr. W.O. Horton, according to Cash) sold it to Eloise Horton Hargrove and Elinor Jean Hargrove. 
“Real estate was never used or owned by grantor as a homestead but is used and occupied as a business property by the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company and prior to said occupancy was vacant ground without any construction,” the deed says. 
“So they could do whatever they wanted with it,” Cash said. 
On Sept. 2, 1959, Warranty Deed Record Book 40, Page 108, recorded the selling of the lot again from Eloise Hargrove, her husband and Elinor to Chester and Marine Jones. Cash said he doesn’t know if anyone occupied the building in between the time it was a telephone office and when the Jones bought it.
A warranty deed from the Photo Record Book 31, page 487, says the Joneses sold the property around Oct. 31, 1972, to Richard and Lucille Dumbrill. The deed says it covered “Lot 7, Block 9, Original Town; an undivided ½ interest,” and that’s the last recorded purchase.
After giving a brief overview of who owned the building, Cash then went through his records about the telephone office.
Reported in “New Stone Building to be Erected Here for Phone Co.” in the Jan. 12, 1936, edition of the News Letter Journal, was the news that Ellen Horton let a contract to a certain Hays and Thompson to construct a new building on lot 7, block 9, next to the post office. Mountain States Telephone Company would use the building for an office and storage room, and the attachment of “a small basement and garage” were also included in the plans. 
“Work began yesterday on the excavating of dirt and the clearing of the lots which will by May 15th be the locations of a 25 by 50 (feet) one-story brick and stone building,” the article says. 
Evidently, it must have taken longer than expected because company manager Fred Wollenzien reported around July 24, 1937, that it was almost finished. 
“As long as it takes to say the word ‘cut,’ the old office will be out of use and most of the equipment ready to be discarded, and an operator in the new building will be answering calls,” the article says. “However, residents and business men need not fear that they will be out of telephone service for a second for as the switch is pulled in the old office, another is plugged in the new, with only a moment elapsing.” 
Cash said he’s not sure where the former office was. 
“They moved around a lot too,” he said, referring to the previous series on the News Letter Journal. 
The building contained the “modern convenience” of an “air conditioning furnace,” and had rooms for the public office, the manager’s office, local line equipment, battery sets, a bathroom, a garage, storage rooms, a basement, and more. S.O. Schood, E.J. Steneck, C.E. Swisher, R.S. Hull, and Ben Burch were responsible for installing the new equipment.  
The telephone office was finally completed, according to a report from Aug 12, 1937, and Wollenzien announced that all were welcome to come to the open houses on Saturday, Aug. 14. One was held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and another from 6:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m. Guests were to be treated to exhibits displaying the history and functions of telephones.
“The ‘Behind the Scenes’ visit will show how local and long distance calls are handled and the operation of the equipment will be explained,” the article says. 
Because of the increase in phone usage and business toll in Newcastle, a new switchboard was installed, according to reports from Feb. 13, 1941, by R.N. Farmer, Western Electric installer. The project was expected to be completed by March 1, bringing with it 60 more available numbers. Another operator was needed to run the machine, so Patty Jackson from Osage came to do the job. 
“The additional board will enable two operators to work at the same time, which will result in faster and more efficient service,” the article says. 
The Feb. 16, 1950, issue of the News Letter reported that Clyde Heck, manager at Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Co., said that there were 829 telephones in Newcastle, which was a much higher number than in years past. The number of daily calls going through more than tripled from the year the office first opened, so operators had their hands busy connecting an average of 3,782 calls per day. 
To take care of the increasing demand, Heck explained in the article that they were carrying out a “continuing program of expansion … cable, wire and pole additions have been made throughout the Newcastle exchange,” completing a project that would “expand rural telephone service in the direction of the Mush Creek oil field.” Near future plans also called for “an additional switchboard position” that would offer another 100 lines to the residents.
A few months later on July 27, 1950, the News Letter reported a momentous event for the telephone company in Newcastle. They were about to install the 1,000th phone in Newcastle at the Berry Hotel. 
To commemorate the development, the article relates the history of telephone services in Newcastle. The Ranch and Home Telephone Co. was first started in 1902, serving Weston and Crook counties. The name was later changed to Northern Wyoming Telephone Co. in 1908, before transferring to the Mountain States Telephone service. In 1921, services were expanded to include Upton, Moorcroft and Gillette, and with the help of the Bell system facilities, long distance calls to any part of the United States were made possible.
“At that time, there were 204 miles of telephone line in the two counties serving 650 phones,” the article says. 
According to a news report from Aug. 23, 1951, manager Clyde Heck was transferred to Casper, so Dale Hill came to fill his void. 
It’s no doubt that the telephone was a success in the small town of Newcastle. 
 
Look for more of the History on Main series in next week’s News Letter Journal.