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T Named Places in Allen County, Indiana
Talking Sidewalks
In 2008, the City of Fort Wayne developed Barr Street from Wayne to Main, adding quotes carved into new brick along the sidewalks and a Ribbon of Community alongside the east wall what would become Citizen’s Square, formerly Wolf and Dessauer. Copied from Talking Sidewalks including some photos by Nancy McCammon-Hansen published June 16, 2014 in History Center Notes & Queries blog.
AT&T Archives: Introduction to the Dial Telephone May 30, 2012 AT&T Tech Channel
See more from the AT&T Archives at http://techchannel.att.com/archives
This short subject newsreel was shown in movie theaters the week before a town's or region's telephone exchange was to be converted to dial service. It's extremely short—a little over a minute, like a PSA. The film concisely explains how to use a dial telephone, including how to dial, how to recognize dial tone, and how to recognize a busy signal.
The first dial telephonewas manufactured in 1897. It was part of an automatic switching/dialing system invented by Almon Strowger and patented in 1889. (You can see this switching system in action on the film "The Step By Step Switch"). But the Bell System didn't start to roll out Strowger's invention until 1919, though they did showcase the technology in 1904. In 1922, New York City was introduced to dial. The first popularized dial telephone was a desk set candlestick model; the smaller, more familiar desk set came later.
It took decades for dial to sweep the entire Bell System. The last holdout was Catalina Island, off the coast of California, which finally converted to dial in 1978. In Camp Shohola, Pennsylvania, an internal automatic switch system still connects campers with the outside world, it's the oldest functioning Strowger switch in the world.
Other Bell System films on the introduction of dial:
* Dial Comes to Town
* How To Use the Dial Telephone
* Now You Can Dial
Footage
Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ
Early communication between the citizens of Allen County was labored and conducted primarily through letters and...
Early communication between the citizens of Allen County was labored and conducted primarily through letters and personal interactions. This all changed with the arrival of telephone to Fort Wayne in 1879. Eventually there were multiple telephone companies with in the city and one of the largest was Home Telephone and Telegraph Company. The company was incorporated in October 1886 with local stockholders, with the primary purpose of providing a more extended service at a lower price than its competitors. The chief promoters of this new company were Charles S. Bash, William J. Vesey, Charles McCulloch, Samuel M. Foster, George W. Beers and Christian Hettler. By 1900, Home Telephone had grown and acquired the National Telephone and Telegraph Company. Through this expansion, they now had exchanges in Ohio, Michigan and more in Indiana. The company continued to grow and service the people of Allen County until 1956 when it was taken over by the General Telephone Company of Indiana. Later this company would be taken over by GTE (1984-2000) and Verizon (2000-2009, following the merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic). The vision and foresight of the founders of the Home Telephone and Telegraph Company still lives on in our community through Frontier Communications (2009-present).
Did you grow up with a telephone party line in your home? With party lines, multiple homes shared the same telephone...
Did you grow up with a telephone party line in your home? With party lines, multiple homes shared the same telephone line. It was a widespread service in the U.S. up through the 1970s or so.
Predictably, complaints of eavesdropping and of neighbors monopolizing the line were common. This 1951 newspaper ad is just one of many that encouraged customers to follow good party-line etiquette.
According to the most recent estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics, about 73% of American adults in 2022 lived in households where there were only wireless phones and no landlines, while an additional 25% were in households with both. Barely over 1% had only landlines.
Contrast that to estimates from early 2003, where less than 3% of adults lived in wireless-only households, and at least 95% lived in homes with landlines, which have been around since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. [ In roughly 20 years or one generation we have changed how we communicate using telephones invented back in 1876! ]
Twenty years ago, landline phone service was the “bread and butter” for phone companies, said Michael Hodel, a stock analyst at Morningstar Research Services LLC who follows the telecom industry. Now, he said, “it’s become an afterthought,” replaced by services like broadband internet access and its multiple ways of making voice contact with others.
In today’s United States, landlines have practically reached the status of urban legend in a nation where connecting over mobiles with the people you want – at the exact moments you want, on the precise platforms you prefer – feels fundamental enough to be a Constitutional right.
Among most age groups, the large majority were wireless-only, except for those 65 and older, the only group where less than half were estimated to only use cellphones.
When some people's cellphone service went down for a while because of an AT&T network outage, among the alternatives...
When some people's cellphone service went down for a while because of an AT&T network outage, among the alternatives suggested were using landlines.
But according to the most recent estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics, about 73 percent of American adults in 2022 lived in households where there were only wireless phones.
Siri, what's a pay phone? In 1999, you could still plunk a coin into one at 2 million phone booths in the United States. Only 5% of those are left today. About a fifth of America's 100,000 remaining pay phones are in New York, according to the FCC. The demise of pay phones is an unsurprising result of cell phones in 95% of Americans' pocket, according to Pew Research. The country's largest carriers have all sold the last of their phones to the independent providers. Sprint left in 2006. AT&T exited two years later. And Verizon got out in 2011. But pay phones remain a steady business for some of the 1,100 companies operating them across the country.
* Statistics regarding payphone availability in this fact sheet are from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Specifically, 2010 FCC data showed the number of payphones in Indiana declining from 38,114 to 8,457 between 3-31-01 and 3-31-09. The most recent available data show Indiana with 1,286 payphones. The most recent national number is 99,832. 12/19 From Public Interest Payphones at the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor IN.gov
Did you know the Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, was the first structure of its kind to be added to the National Register of Historic Places - NPS? According to the nomination, the Booth "represented a new direction in the design of telephone booths. Instead of wooden booths that were found inside hotels, drug stores, or other businesses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth was developed specifically for outdoor use. Its aluminum and glass construction was durable enough to stand up to the elements and the amount of glass along with the louvers on the sides allowed its namesake elements – air and light – to flood the booth.” Added to the list in 2015, this booth was installed in the 1950s by the local Prairie Grove Telephone Company, to serve visitors to the nearby motel and state park.
Looking for unique Christmas gift ideas?! We just put out this antique quarter sawn oak phone booth! She’s a beauty. The light even turns on when you shut the door. It has newer style pay phone with cord for land line. $1,950
Some of you may remember these-a TELEPHONE BOOTH. Hadn't seen one in years and then all of a suddenly I've seen two. The pay phone was invented in 1889 by William Gray and shortly afterwards the phone booth for privacy. Phone booths were once found in high traffic areas like, hotels, banks, office buildings and drug stores. Western Electric manufactured thousands of them. They usually had an accordion like doors for entry and privacy, lighting, a place to sit and a shelf to write on. Most were furnished with a phone book. I remember when it cost five cents to make a call in one but if you made a long distance call be prepared to have a lot of change.
By the 1950s this style of phone booth was giving way to glass and aluminum booths. You may remember when phone booth stuffing was all the rage in the 1950s. I think the world record was 25 in one booth. Later generations remember them as where Superman discards his street clothes for his superman outfit or where Bill & Ted went on their most excellent adventure. For me I wax nostalgic when I see one on Perry Mason or in an antique shop remembering phone calls from one to a girlfriend. In 1943, a telephone booth, similar to this one, stood in the lobby of Indiana Hotel (Charley Creek Inn today) just to the right of the dining room entrance where there is an elevator now. That telephone booth was unusual because it did not have a door, and yet noise from the lobby did not interfere with calls made there. In 1943, a picture of the booth made its way into an article in the magazine Performance, which was a trade publication of the mineral wool industry. A headline over the story read, “Wabash, Indiana, shows New York the Way,” This was because the phone booth in the hotel was the forerunner of dozens of similar booths soon to be placed on subway platforms in New York City. Mineral wool covered by perforated metal panels covered three sides of the booth and successfully deadened sound from the lobby. The booth was in the hotel until well into the late 1960s.
Gladys Airgood shared that in the North Manchester museum “We have a phone booth in the Manchester Center for History complete with Superman outfit, phone, light and fan. Kids lie to have their picture in it.”
Now vacant, this notable front-gabled grocery building, built c.1890 on Tennessee Avenue, was once the heart of this neighborhood. This building is an increasingly rare example of a gable front neighborhood commercial building. It is slightly altered by two replacement doors, but the storefront has not been changed. Most store owners from this era lived above their stores. The building retains original wood siding and storefront windows. The business had a variety of owners through the 1920s including Chas Duffner and wife Anna, 1926-1927. It was not until Elmer H. Engle bought the grocery store in 1933 that it found a longtime proprietor. Engle remained the owner of the business into the 1950’s and continued to live upstairs after it became a TV and appliance store in 1958. ARCH Inc. is proud to present this edition of Throwback Thursday, part of its work as the historic preservation organization serving the greater Fort Wayne area, made possible by ARCH members and donors. Thank you.
I love these vintage ads celebrating the debuts—and re-openings—of nearly 20 Fort Wayne movie houses. These wonderful images were originally uploaded to the Cinema Treasures website by user rivest266.
It's unfortunate that the Summit City's oldest existing theater—The Rialto—is so neglected in the 21st century.
This article was written for and is courtesy of Fort Wayne Reader newspaper
While Mayor Harold Zeis (1964-71) gets most of the credit (or blame) for the 1960’s downtown redevelopment, it was Mayor Paul Mike Burns (1960-63) who had commissioned the detailed study of the city’s urban structures and housing that was completed in 1962 by the Rhode Island urban planning firm of Blair and Stein Associates. When Zeis came to office, he focused significant city government time and energy — in addition to developing new residential housing units in distressed areas — to the leveling and renewal of the area bounded by Main, Superior, Calhoun and the Maumee River.
In 1965, The Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission sold property for the initiative’s first downtown urban renewal project, which covered 5.6 acres at the east end of Superior and Columbia streets to the Three Rivers Development Corp. for $250,000. On this ground was then built Three Rivers Apartments which had the financial backing of Indiana & Michigan Electric Co., several of whose executives were also officers of the newly formed development company.
This kickoff to downtown’s redevelopment eliminated the 400 block east of both of those two streets that had been home to the Borden’s Ice Cream plant (now Edy’s - which relocated to North Wells St.), warehouses for the Grand Leader and W & D’s department stores, Pettit Transfer & Storage Co., Hagerman Construction and National Mill Supply, all of whose buildings were subsequently razed.
Designed by the Silver Spring, MD architectural firm Cohen, Haft & Assoc., Ted Hagerman, Hagerman Construction (who took part in the September 1965 groundbreaking), was the general contractor on the twin-14 story, $6M project. In addition to the two luxury apartment buildings and huge above street level heated swimming pool, they constructed an underground parking garage that held 250 cars and then put the complex’s surface parking lot on top of it. The image shown was taken in September of 1966, exactly one year after groundbreaking, and shows Hagerman’s crews pouring the tenth floor of the east building, with the 1930’s filtration plant in the background.
Through the years the buildings have been carefully maintained and continually updated, and the 354 units (covering 17 different floor plans) from 506 sq. ft. to over 3,000 sq. ft. are still considered to be downtown’s “Luxury” apartments, and have the amenities and views to prove it. While it’s amusing today to read the brochures from the buildings’ grand openings in the summer of 1967 where they tout “Appliances are finished in the very newest Avocado color”, and that “All TV’s get channels 15, 21 and 33”, current management assures me that all the avocado appliances disappeared many years ago and you can now have all the TV channels you want.
A tip of the hat to Eric Tripp for sharing this image.
It's our 88th birthday! On February 14, 1935, 3Rivers opened our doors as International Harvester Company Fort Wayne Works Employees Federal Credit Union. While our name has gotten shorter, we’ve grown in every other way!
We’ve expanded our footprint, currently operating 22 branches throughout northeast, central, and east central Indiana, and St. Marys, Ohio. We’ve gone from $250 in assets to $2.2B and three employees to nearly 500.
Most importantly, though, is the longstanding trust our now 110,000 members have put in us to help them reach their financial goals over the decades. Helping our members and celebrating their achievements is what inspires us to continue growing.
Getting the keys to their first cars and first homes, traveling the world, earning degrees, starting families, opening businesses, living debt free, retiring early… each of our members has their own, unique dreams, and we’re here to support all of them!
Thank you to our members, our employees, and our community for allowing us to be a part of your stories. We appreciate you!
[Check out our transformation: Our headquarters at the International Harvester campus in 1935 and our corporate office at Northland Blvd. today!]
TRACTOR PAGE, , January 1957, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Sixth Annual Reunion of 'The Old Time Threshers and Sawmill Operators, Inc.,' was held on the James Whitbey farm near Fort Wayne ...
Reunion Report, , November 1957... seventh annual Old Time Threshers and Saw Mill Operators Reunion at the James Whitbey farm near Fort Wayne, Indiana, August 15, 16, 17 and 18, 1957.
Iron Man Of The Month, , September 1969, Thus it is that another wonderful day is begun at the Old Time Threshers and Sawmillers on the Jim Whitby farm, near Fort Wayne, Ind., with all heads bared and ...
The Old Time Threshers and Sawmill Operators, Inc., , R. R. 13, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Old Time Threshers and Sawmill Operators held its 20th annual Reunion in August 1970 on the Jim Whitbey Farm near Fort ...
HARRY WOODMANSEE AND STEAM SHOWS, 'I was up north of Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the reunion on the farm of Jim Whitbey there on Carroll and Johnson Roads. Whitbey was a retired engineer off the ...
Jasper and Florence Tilbury Farm, Queen Anne Gable. 1928 Reed Road IHSSI Survey Number: 003-214-20861. Allen County PATI, 1996 City of Fort Wayne Historic Sites and Structures Inventory. Outbuildings: English barn, Stable. Outbuildings: English barn, Stable. Notes: English barn with lean-to additions on east and west elevations-C, Stable-C, Statement of Significance: Even with alterations to the house, this property retains its significance as on of few remaining farmsteads in this part of the city. Architectural Description: Brick Queen Anne home with tower and two story bay. Limestone water table and limestone foundation. One story frame addition on north elevation of house. Original window openings have segmental arch lintels. Original entrances retain transom windows. Notes: English barn with lean-to additions on east and west elevations-C, Stable-C. Statement of Significance: Even with alterations to the house, this property retains its significance as on of few remaining farmsteads in this part of the city. Architectural Description: Brick Queen Anne home with tower and two story bay. Limestone water table and limestone foundation. One story frame addition on north elevation of house. Original window openings have segmental arch lintels. Original entrances retain transom windows.003-214-20861.pdf. Compiled 2014 on SHAARD Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD).
Photo caption: Above, Elwood Zimmerman stands outside his barn on the only intact farmstead within Fort Wayne city limits. Above right, this is a copy of a circa 1898 photo of the Tilbury farmstead on Reed Road in Fort Wayne.
LASTING LANDMARK Fully intact farmstead awaits approval of historic status 4 By Andrew Jarosh the associated press FORT WAYNE It's hard to envision a farmstead still standing in Fort Wayne. But there is one, the Tilbury Farm. The only fully intact farm within the city limits, it has been recommended for local historic landmark status. If approved, the farmstead at 1928 Reed Road, between Nevada and Forest avenues, would join other local landmarks such as. the Embassy Theatre and Trinity Episcopal Church as worthy of "special historic designation. Don Orban, Fort Wayne's historic preservation planner, said the farm is special because it consists of the original brick house and wooden barn, along with a horse stable, in' the same bucolic setting when the- farmstead was built in 1893.. "It's not a working farm," Orban said. "But it's three buildings in a neat row." Ron Murphy, a local real estate agent and member of the local historic preservation organization ARCH, said the farmstead could be saved for future generations in part through the foresight of a California' developer, that is buying the farm and its seven acres for a senior citizens' apartment complex. Murphy said the developer plans to build a three-story complex fronting on Reed Road on about six acres of what was once farmland. The remaining acre, along with the farmstead itself on the northwest corner of the tract, could be donated to a nonprofit organization. Local historic landmark status would protect the exterior of the house, barn and stable from alteration, preserving a chapter from Fort Wayne's history when a. lot of what now is urbanized was at one time wide open farmland. . "There just aren't that many farmhouses like this anymore," Murphy, said. "I'm not aware of anything like this." " .While many intact farmsteads can -be found in rural Allen County, Orban said he believes the Tilbury Farm is the only farmstead completely intact left in Fort Wayne. The buildings that comprise the Tilbury Farm are readily identifiable as a turn-of-the-century farm complex. They represent a rare element within an urban context, and provide a glimpse into the original character of the surrounding area. The area, Orban said, didn't really become urbanized until the late 1950s. The house itself is an unusually large and elaborate example of a Queen Anne farmhouse, the only notable example of a Queen Anne farmhouse in northeast Fort Wayne tosurvive with outbuildings. Because of its size and high style, the Tilbury house was likely used as a landmark from the time of construction and, as later residential construction developed on the surrounding land, the house and outbuildings have remained an important visual feature in the area, according to local historic preservation officials. The property was bought by Jasper and Florence Tilbury in 1892. The buildings that make up the Tilbury Farm today consist of a house and barn, both built in 1893, and a small stable, built in 1950. The large, two-story brick house has a steep, cross-gabled roof that features decorated verge boards, open eaves and a square tower with a concavely curved cornice. In 1925, a Craftsman-style brick front porch was added and serves as both the main entry and the front entry into the kitchen. A low, one-room gabled frame addition with a brick base extends from the north side of the house. The 2,600-square-foot house has a full basement, six bedrooms, two baths, a big country-style kitchen, a huge dining room and a formal parlor. There's a third-floor tower; however, there is no access to it. To the north of the house, the small, English barn has been altered on the first floor to be used as a garage. But the original character with pegged timber-frame construction, loft and vertical wood siding remains intact. If put on the market, Murphy estimates the farmstead would be worth $150,000. Elwood and Betty Zimmermann have lived there 38 years, raising four children. "We've enjoyed the place tremendously," Elwood Zimmermann said.
Time Corners
Often confused as "Times Corner" or "Times Corners" at the intersection of 3 roads, Getz Road, Covington Road, and Jefferson Blvd. It refers to a former Standard gas station with one clock. The area now has several shopping centers including Time Corner shopping center. Over the years, various newspaper articles discussed the name origin, but none are currently online. There was a December 28, 2014 discussion on the original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook. The original clock was located in 2016 in Columbia City and discussed in a June 26, 2016 on You know you've lived in Fort Wayne too long when... Private Facebook group. Several Time Corner discussions often with photos are on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook including a October 19, 2022 discussion with a newspaper clipping showing an advertisement by the owner at the time Ray Mutton. Time Corners search on Facebook produces some results.
Intersection of Main and Calhoun streets was the busiest corner in Fort Wayne from the 1890s to the 1960s, here all the trolleys (and later buses) converged from their various routes.
For Throwback Thursday we share this picture of Transfer Corner at Main and Calhoun. At the turn of the 20th Century you can see Interurban Trains, street cars and horse drawn carts. That is the Courthouse on the left and Riegels Pipe and Tobacco on the Northeast corner of Calhoun and Main, where you used to have the City County Building, or The Rousseau Centre now. BTW...Hofer and Davis provided the boundary and topographic surveys for the City - County Building.
Founded in 1952. headquarters is located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with an on-site, industry-leading Research and Development Center and Materials Test Lab. Also based in Fort Wayne is the Supply Chain Management Americas, a 90,000 square-foot facility using the latest warehouse management technology, incorporating bar coding and RF scanning to boost productivity and expedite customer orders. From their Company Americas Facts page.
Looking for unique Christmas gift ideas?! We just put out this antique quarter sawn oak phone booth! She’s a beauty. The light even turns on when you shut the door. It has newer style pay phone with cord for land line. $1,950
