On this date in 1899, the telephone installed at the Chicago and North Western Railway depot in Oakes, North Dakota was up and working. According to the Oakes Republican, the depot was “now in close touch with the rest of the world.” 1899 might seem early for telephone service, but the Northwestern depot did not have the state’s first telephone. That honor belonged to Oliver Dalrymple’s bonanza farm.
Dalrymple purchased his telephone from Philadelphia in 1876. Alexander Graham Bell had patented his telephone earlier that year. Dalrymple had the battery powered device installed at the Headquarters Farm. This first North Dakota use of the new fangled machines allowed for fast communication between the main farm and the divisional farms.
A few years later, in 1881, the Fargo Moorhead Telephone Exchange opened for business. By June of that year, there were ten miles of phone lines in Fargo. Local businessmen funded the venture with $5,000. The exchange was in the attic of the Headquarters Hotel. The switchboard had twenty-five connections. James Hole Sr. installed the first telephone in the city at his farm, located at what now is 1233 Broadway.
The Headquarters Hotel, the Republican party office, and the Daily Argus were among the first subscribers. The Exchange charged $4.98 per month for a private line. A two-party line was $4.10, and a four-party line was $3.51. The first long distance telephone call in North Dakota was between Fargo and St. Cloud in 1887.
The telephone exchange moved several times, locating for a time where City Hall would later be built, then to a three-story brick building on the corner of Roberts Street and Second Avenue North. In 1902 it moved to 504 First Avenue North – a new building constructed with the exchange in mind.
The first telephone operator was fifteen-year-old Bella Thompson. Mrs. C.E. Webster became the second operator. They were paid twenty-five dollars a month. The director of the exchange said he hired women because boys were too likely to engage in pranks and talk back to customers. Operators handled all calls until 1939. In that year, the Exchange established automatic dialing service.
In 2002, a Fargo resident finally turned her old dial phone in for a push button model. She also had the last party line in the city.
Dakota Datebook written by Carole Butcher
Sources:
Oakes Republican. Oakes ND. 1 September 1899. Page 5.
NDSU Archives. “Fargo North Dakota.” https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/telephone#:~:text=The%20first%20telephone%20to%20be%20installed%20in%20North,and%20installed%20in%20the%20Headquarters%20Farm%20in%201876. Accessed 7/24/2020.
From the Oakes Republican:
The Northwestern depot has been equipped with one of Dr. Boardman's telephones, and is now in close touch with the rest of the world.
