The INDEPENDENT, October 4, 2000
Page 9
Three digits were sufficient for early Vernonia telephone system
By Robb Wilson
Have you made a telephone
call in the past few days and it
didn’t go through? All you got
was a buzz or a tone? Remem
ber, we have now entered a
new age and need to dial TEN
digits!
What we have taken for
granted in this age is not so
new. In 1875, Alexander Gra
ham Bell invented the tele
phone and made the first call to
Mr. Watson in an adjoining
room. People laughed out loud
when it was predicted that tele
phones would be common
place and every home would
have one, and that lines and
poles would be erected every
where to provide this service.
In a few short years, tele
phones had become common
place in cities and large towns.
Small towns like Vernonia got
telephones at the turn of the
20th century. I cannot recall
whether it was 1899 or 1901
when the first system was in
stalled in town. It was called
the “Swede-Line” and was put
in by the Malmsten family, re
cent immigrants from the old
country.
The Malmsten family con
sisted of about five households
and was very instrumental in
the early development of our
town, including the telephone,
sewer, water and street im
provements and helping get
electricity in the early 1920’s.
There were about eight
homes that were connected to
the “Swede-line” with all the
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users being of Swedish her
itage. Then, with this group
closely connected through
wires, others wanted it, too.
The Swede-line soon grew into
a network, with others who
lived out in the country in
stalling their own phone sys
tems and having four or five
neighbors connected.
The last member of the
Malmsten family living here
was Louise Malmsten Thomas,
who provided me with this in
formation in 1991. Louise re
membered cranking the handle
for ringing. As the town grew
and others wanted phones,
too, her father built a little build
ing with a switchboard in it. She
was the operator there for
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503-307-7479
many years. When the mill
came in 1924, the population
exploded and the phone serv
ice needed to grow consider
ably. A bigger switchboard was
hoped for. Her father had sold
out to a telephone company
who built the system here. The
system was still run through a
switchboard. Sylvia, the opera
tor, asked for the name of the
party being called, or their
three-digit phone number, and
connected the call. This system
continued through the late
1940s, when dial phones came
into use. At first, you still had to
dial “0” and have the operator
connect the call.
Sometime in the early
1950s, direct dialing without
operator assistance became
available. Technology replaced
another job! Late in the 1950s,
four numbers were needed to
place a call, and we had been
given a prefix - HAZEL NINE
(Ha9). At this point, the prefix
was not needed to make a call.
Four-digit
dialing
worked
through the 1960s. Around
1972, we were given word that
we had to update and use a
five digit system, so the “nine”
became the commonplace pre
fix. That didn’t last long,
though, as GTE soon built a
new phone office here in town
and “the most modern technol
ogy to date” was available and
installed!
The little brick building at the
east end of the bridge that
once served as the phone of
fice (the operator lived in an
apartment in the back) was de
molished and a new building
was erected. With this, came
seven digit dialing and our Ha9
was converted to 429.
Now, being a part of the
metro dialing area and a
grown-up small town, we need
to use all ten numbers. So
don’t forget, or you will get an
earful of buzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Not all telephone communi
cations require wires or fiber
optics anymore, as we once
did. A cell phone tower was re
cently completed up on the hill
near the cemetery, and that
technology has brought us into
a new century and new era of
discovery and eavesdropping.
Let’s see what happens in
the next few years.
Re-elect
Tony
Hyde
• Gasoline
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Columbia County
Commissioner ★ Position 3
Four years ago, when I first asked for your vote, I pledged to work for aN
of the people of Columbia County.The work has been satisfying, partic
ularly being able to help bring US Gypsum to Columbia County, with its
good, family wage jobs. But there is much more to do!
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WILCOX & FLEGEL
720 Rose Avenue • Vernonia
Currently we are working with other agencies to site an ethanol facility
for Cascade Grain at Port Westward; that will also provide family wage
jobs. But more is needed!
To keep our communities healthy, we must also be able to respond to
the needs of our small, locally owned businesses, to help them stay cre
ative and productive.They are the backbone of our communities.
We need improved telecommunications, more affordable housing and
better educational opportunities.
I appreciate your confidence in me and I will continue working long
and hard for all of the people of Columbia County
Re-elect Tony Hyde
Columbia County Commissioner