New Haven, CT Birthed the Modern Telephone #newhavenct #telephone #history In 1878, New Haven, Connecticut became the birthplace of the modern telephone. George Coy launched the world’s first commercial telephone exchange in the Boardman Building, connecting callers through a central switchboard. Within weeks came the first phone book—just 50 names and no numbers. Early operators were boys, soon replaced by women known for patience and poise. By year’s end, subscribers had grown eightfold, layin

In 1930, the 11,000-ton Indiana Bell Telephone Company Building in Indianapolis was rotated 90 degrees and moved 52 feet south without disrupting daily operations or the 600 employees inside. This historic engineering feat was achieved by maintaining all utility connections with flexible piping and moving the structure at a painstaking pace of 15 inches per hour. | History In Pictures