The Telephone Comes to Mountain View by Pamela Baird
Spring Event Recap Palmita Park and The Minton Legacy
Ring! Ring! What’ s that sound?
It’ s the new telephone!
In keeping with our theme of technology introductions in Mountain View in this issue we cover the introduction of the telephone. Previously we highlighted electricity and the bicycle.
The telegraph was an integral part of commerce and communications for the United States and the world. The new technology was quickly embraced after its widespread adoption in the 1850s. In 1867 Western Union, the largest company providing services, had 2,600 offices connected by 85,000 miles of wire. By 1890, the company had 19,400 offices linked by 679,000 miles of wire. It handled 56 million messages that year. Judging from early photographs of downtown Mountain View, the city had erected telegraph poles by 1890.
However, the acceptance of the telephone happened more slowly, even though most providers also handled telegram services. Many people didn’ t trust the new technology or thought it was a plaything of the wealthy.
Alexander Graham Bell is credited as the inventor. He received the first patent for a telephone on March 7, 1876, although other inventors were active in developing this technology. Bell advocated for answering the phone with“ ahoy”, a maritime greeting. Thomas Edison suggested“ hello” instead.
The Telephone Comes to Mountain View by Pamela Baird
Mountain View’ s first telephone office was in the local drug store
The first telephone exchange in California was established in San Francisco in 1878. It took 16 years before an exchange was established in Mountain View. The Sunset Telephone & Telegraph Company solicited subscribers that paid a monthly fee and a per minute charge to place a phone call. In 1894 there were four subscribers in Mountain View.
The first telephone exchange was located in Johnson’ s Drug Store on Castro Street. The equipment needed to operate the phone system was a switchboard with manual connections performed by an operator. By 1906 the number of subscribers had grown to only 85, most of which were businesses. The 1905 Mountain View High School yearbook displays 49 advertisers, but only ten of them had a telephone listing— about 20 %. Because there were so few subscribers, the early telephone directory books included entries from a huge area-most included the counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay. It’ s interesting to note that some communities like Napa, Redwood City and Ukiah had many more subscribers than Mountain View. Phone service to Sunnyvale was established in 1906 and to Los Altos in 1912.
The early directories instructed new subscribers about how to use the telephone. To reach an operator to place a phone call, a person would tap the earpiece
Spring Event Recap Palmita Park and The Minton Legacy
TECHNOLOGY
arm three times and then stay on the line for the operator. When placing a call—“ state your number carefully( example – three- eight- four). Do the same when a phone call is received so the party placing the call knows that the correct connection has been made”.
By 1915 multi-arm telephone poles had been erected on Castro Street— according to photographs from that year. But in the 1915 Mountain View High School yearbook the number of advertisements displaying phone numbers is still only 20 %.
But as we know, eventually the telephone was widely accepted and became an essential part of modern life. By the 1950s, roughly two-thirds of American households had at least one telephone. According to US census figures, the percentage of homes without a telephone dropped to only 2.4 percent in 2000.
And now we all use cell phones. We wonder- what would the early adopters of telephone technology think of having a phone in one’ s pocket?
Research assistance from Elena Lopez
On Sunday, May 4, MVHA members Melanie Kaye and Kyle Hartzell presented the story behind their book Palmita Park, The First 100 Years, about one of Mountain View’ s first housing subdivisions— Loreto, Anza, and Velarde streets, celebrating its centennial this year.
Conceived by lumberman Earl Minton and banker B. W. Holeman during the post-World War I housing boom, Palmita Park required every home be built with materials from the Minton Company. Buyers selected plans from Minton’ s California Bungalow Catalog, offering popular architectural styles of the time.
A 1924 contest awarded Mrs. C. E. Kunze $ 25 for the name“ Palmita Park,” chosen for the dwarf palms selected by Minton that lined the parkways. In 2023 neighbors replaced their signature little palms that had been lost in the winter
storms and began writing a centennial history for a 20’ s themed celebration. Despite many remodels and modernizations, Palmita Park’ s bungalows still display the craftsmanship and charm that attracted middle-class families a century ago.
Ms Kaye and Ms Hartzell presented a slide show that also showcased the Minton family legacy. Their contributions to our city through community service and owning and operating one of Mountain View’ s longest running businesses. As Palmita Park residents, the two shared how much fun they had conducting their research at the History Center, gathering stories from neighbors, and even visiting the County Surveyor’ s office in San Jose. Their book is now available at the Mountain View Public Library in The History Center.
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