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Telephones changed life in Arkansas

The arrival of telegraph service in Arkansas in the late 1850s opened the formerly isolated state to the era of almost instantaneous communication with the outside world. The next big leap came with the railroads — which allowed for the overnight delivery of newspapers to many parts of the state — newspapers which used the telegraph to report on happenings from Memphis to Chicago to Bangor. Less than a generation later came the next great leap in communication— a technology which allowed for the transmission of the human voice — the telephone.

Unlike with the telegraph, the telephone came quickly to Arkansas. Alexander Graham Bell received his first patent for a telephone on March 7, 1876, and three days later he demonstrated its efficacy when he spoke the command, “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.” Western Union, the major telegraph company, refused to purchase Bell’s invention, and a keen competition arose while the two companies slugged it out in court.

On Nov. 1, 1879, telephone service arrived in Little Rock, with the opening of what some have claimed to be the third telephone exchange in the nation. While that claim cannot be verified, it is amazing that a poor state like Arkansas had a telephone exchange within four years of its invention.

The early arrival was probably due to the effort of Western Union to lock up as many markets as quickly as possible. Regardless, it took longer than expected to get enough subscribers to proceed with the project. A demonstration of the new technology at the offices of the Arkansas Gazette encouraged that newspaper to subscribe to what it termed “this wonderful instrument.”

Opie Read, a reporter for the Gazette, frequently promoted the new telephone system in his local news column. He wrote of a day in the future when “it will not be necessary for any business man to leave his office, only to eat and get out of an unwelcome visitor’s way.”

It took almost a month to find enough subscribers for the exchange to open, and some evidence indicates it opened with only 10 subscribers. At $4 per month for a residence and $5 for a business, it is not surprising that few people flocked to embrace a technology that was, at that time, largely an expensive novelty.

In addition to the Gazette, another early business subscriber was Fones Brothers Hardware, a development Opie Read, known for his humor writing, described as creating “tele-Fones.” Nick Kupferle, a restaurateur and liquor dealer, had a subscription, as did merchant Gus Blass. The Little Rock system involved setting 150 wooden poles, testimony to the small size of the system.

This first Little Rock telephone exchange had been in operation only 10 days when the courts ruled conclusively in favor of the Bell Telephone Company. Western Union was forced to turn over its system to the Bell Company. By the end of October 1880, after nearly a year of service, the Little Rock system extended a line across the Arkansas River to what is now North Little Rock.

The Little Rock telephone system grew rapidly. By 1912, the capital city could boast of having the largest switchboard in the world — capable of handling 14,200 phones.

Dardanelle and Pine Bluff established their own systems only a few months later than Little Rock. Hot Springs had its own system by June 1880. Soon new systems sprang up all over the state. By 1885 simple one-page telephone directories were being distributed in several cities, including Pine Bluff, which had 101 subscribers.

By the beginning of the 20th century, telephone service was pushing its way into the rugged Ozark Mountains. The Eureka Springs City Council granted a 25-year franchise for a telephone exchange — to begin service on Jan. 1, 1903. Telephones even came to the remote Newton County hamlet of Mount Sherman, and when an ice storm destroyed the system in 1951, local residents installed new poles and strung lines using volunteers.

With the advent of local telephone offices, a new figure of importance arrived on the scene in small towns — the telephone operator. The “Central Operator,” as the operator was often known, quickly became the source not only for a telephone connection, but also for local news and gossip, and sometimes more.

Nola Leslie Boyd, longtime operator for the Searcy County town of Leslie, lived in rooms next to the switchboard and served many functions. A newspaper account in the 1950s said Mrs. Boyd “calls for an ambulance when there are accidents. She calls funeral homes in case of death… She spreads news of new babies and of deaths…”

The coming of the telephone allowed Arkansans to move more fully into the national information mainstream, and at the same time telephones did much to moderate the isolation and loneliness of rural families.