Telecommunications History

The Franklin Press, August 2, 1928

Buys Highlands Tel. Exchange

Western Carolina Telephone Company Acquires Another Property - Owns Exchange in Five Towns

At a recent meeting of the board of directors of the Western Carolina Telephone company a committee consisting of D G Stewart, general manager, W B McGuire, president, and T J Johnston, attorney for the company, was appointed to negotiate the purchase of the Highlands exchange. The committee made a trip to Highlands last week and succeeded in purchasing the Highlands telephone company. The town of Highlands also granted the purchasing company a franchise. The purchase price also included the rights of the Highlands company in the line from that town to Dillard, GA, which line is principally owned by the forestry service.

The Western Carolina Telephone company will make extensive improvements in the system in Highlands. These improvements will include a toll line to Cashiers to connect with the line already owned by the local company and running from Cashiers to Sylva.

The Franklin Press, December 5, 1929

Telephone Co Has New Directory

A revised winter and spring directory of the Western Carolina Telephone company is under preparation by the manager, George Johnston, and has gone to press. The new directory will contain approzimately 32 pages. It will be ready for distribution within the next few days. The towns included in the Western Carolina exchange are Bryson City, Sylva, Clayton, GA, Highlands, and Franklin.

The use of the directory for business and social calls to other towns includes a saving of money, points out Mr Johnston. It is also a business and social directory of these towns and counties, Mr Johnston says.

The Western Carolina Telephone company is giving valuable advertising to this section through the directory. It is superior in makeup to the average small town directory. In each issue the telephone company includes a page devoted to the boosting of western counties of this state. It points out the climatic, scenic and civic advantages of the state. The page is given free and is prepared by the telephone company's officials.

The Franklin Press, September 16, 1932

Cables For Wires

Telephone Co. Improving Service In Franklin

A crew of ten men started working this week in Franklin making necessary improvements on the Western Carolina Telephone Co system here. They are working under the direction of George Johnston, manager.

These improvements, Mr Johnston said, are being made now for two reasons: first, because the company wants to give better service and second, because they will enhance the appearance of a number of Franklin streets.

They include rebuilding the line from the Log Cabin Service Station, at Main street and the Georgia road, to the Co-Jo Service Station, a distance of about one-half mile; replacing all open wire in this sector with cables. On Harrison avenue from Main street and the water tank, poles are being replaced and cables substituted for wires.

A new line is being strung to Bonny Crest, and up Highway 28 to Cullasaja, a distance of about 4 miles. Four thousand one hundred feet of 51 pair cable will be used.

The Franklin exchange serves about 200 stations in Macon county, exclusive of government stations and Highlands

The Franklin Press, October 27, 1932

Phone System Is Expanding

Cullowhee Exchange Acquired By Western Carolina Co.

The Western Carolina Telephone company, with headquarters in Franklin, has purchased the Cullowhee Telephone company and plans to spend several thousand dollars in virtually rebuilding the exchange, according to George J Johnston, manager. The consideration involved was not announced.

Funds already have been appropriated, Mr Johnston stated, for improving the Cullowhee system. Much new equipment, including a dial system, will be installed, designed to give Cullowhee, terminus of a direct line from Sylva, one of the most modern telephone plants in Western North Carolina.

The Cullowhee lines will be an important link in the Western Carolina Telephone company's system, tying in with its lines from Sylva to Cullowhee and from Cullowhee to Cashiers, High Hampton and Fairfield.

The Company now is engaged in replacing old poles in and near Franklin and is building a new line to Cullasaja.

The Franklin Press, August 3, 1939

New Telephone City Pressing Club

A telephone has been installed by the City Pressing Club. Mrs Tim Hollman, proprietor. The number is 75.

The Franklin Press, June 5, 1947

New Phone Directory Out; Contains 1,300 Listings

New telephone directories were distributed this week by the Western Carolina Telephone company to subscribers in the six communities it serves -- Franklin, Highlands, Clayton, GA, Bryson City, Sylva and Cullowhee.

The directory contains more than 1,300 telephone listings. The total number of phones is even larger, Manager Russell E McKelvey, said, explaining that pay stations and extension telephones are not listed in the directory.

Phones listed in Franklin total 380, which includes 24 Forest Service listings, Highlands has 11, including seven Forest Service listings.

Totals for the other towns are: Sylva, 383, Clayton, 208; Bryson City, 186; and Cullowhee, 27.

The number of telephones in service in the company's system at present is slightly more than 16 per cent greater than it was June 1, 1946, Mr McKelvey said. The number has increased by 108 in the five months since January 1. And this expansion, Mr McKelvey pointed out, has occurred during a period when telephone equipment has been extremely difficult to obtain.

Examination of the listings in the Franklin directory reveals that Pendergrass is the longest surname, while Ray is the shortest. It also shows a surprisingly large number of four-letter runners-up for the position of shortest names. Surnames in the directory containing only four letters include Ashe, Gray, Cabe, Fagg, Hall, Hays, Holt, Houk, Hyde, Lane, Land, Long, Lyle, Nave, Neil, Peek, Sisk, Swan, West, and Wood.

The name Angel occurs most frequently, eight times, in the Franklin directory, while Bryson, with seven listings, is a close second.

An even dozen Franklin business concerns listed in the phone book start their firm names with the word Franklin, and six start with the word Macon. Thirteen firms in the Highlands listings start with the name Highlands, but there are no Macons.

The 28-page 1947 directory, nearly 50 per cent larger than the 20-page 1945 edition, was printed by The Franklin Press.

The Franklin Press, 3 February 1949

Name Bryson, Commonest in Area, Phone Book Shows

What is the commonest name in Southwestern North Carolina?

Smith? Brown? Jones?

Wrong! All three wrong!

The commonest name in this area is Bryson, if the new telephone directory of the Western Carolina Telephone company placed in the mail to subscribers Tuesday, is a fair index.

The name "Bryson: appears 22 times in the approximately 1900 listings for the seven exchanges served by the company, as against a mere 17 Joneses, 15 Browns, and 12 Smiths.

Allison and Cannon, with 15 listings each, are as popular as Brown, a directory count of names reveals, while Rogers, with 14 listings, and Davis, with 13, outrank Smith in popularity, and Angel and Wilson, with 12 listings each, are tied with Smith for sixth place.

In the new directory, Sylva, is listed as having the largest number of telephones, 529, while Franklin is a close second with 520. The numbers at the other exchanges are: Bryson City, 272; Clayton, 265; Highlands, 181; Cullowhee, 68; and Cashiers, 65.

The new directory, unlike those in the past lists all names at the seven exchanges together, alphabetically; that is all those whose surname begins with A are listed under the A's, all beginning with B under the B's, etc. This consolidation system is in general use over the country in cases where several towns in one area are served by one company, Russell E McKelvey, general manager, said.

The Franklin Press, May 24, 1951
Highlands Will Go On Dial Telephone Plan This Morning

The Highlands telephone exchange, with 224 phones, will be cut over to the dial system this (Thursday) morning at 9:30 o'clock, it was announced yesterday by R E McKelvey, manager of the Western Carolina Telephone company.

The Franklin Press, 15 May 1958
Telephone Company Is Starting New Building in Franklin.
Sawyer Says Western Carolina's New Home Will House Dial Equipment.

Western Carolina Telephone Company has announced plans for building a $60,000 building in Franklin to house dial equipment and its business offices.

Grading operations started yesterday (Wednesday) on the site between Macon Theatre and Angel Clinic in Main Street.

In a telephone interview from the company's Weaverville office, Tom Sawyer, vice-president, said the change-over to dial system in Franklin is still programmed for the second quarter of 1959.

The new building, he explained will house dial equipment for the conversion.

At the present time, the company has business offices in the Burrell building and a switchboard exchange over the Franklin Seed Store.

Mr Sawyer said the new building will be a one story with a full basement.