1881-1981: The Golden Age Of Telephones In Iowa City.

On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first understandable sentence over his new invention – the telephone:

“Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.”

According to historians, when the Emperor of Brazil, later that same year, inspected Bell’s new contraption at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia (see pic below), he was as surprised as he was impressed. All he could say was, “My God! It talks!” The London Times described Bell’s invention as the “latest American humbug” but, in case the idea should prove successful, The Times established a basis for revising its judgment by claiming that Bell, the inventor, was “a Scotchman, though a naturalized American.”

Perhaps the first “telephone” purporting to transmit the human voice was brought to Iowa City from that same 1876 Philadelphia Exposition by long-time merchant John Hensel (1815-1879). According to city records, Hensel was so impressed by what he saw at the Exposition, he paid one dollar for, what was later defined as, “nothing more than two cans connected by a string!”

Three years later – in 1879 – S. D. Pryce & W. J. Schell, who operated a successful hardware store in Iowa City, ordered three telephones, installing two in their neighborhood, and the third at St. Mary’s Church for their priest, Father Emonds. By 1880, the number of telephones across the city was quickly increasing, with each set of owners stringing their own set of wires using barns, trees, or any other support that was convenient. If, for example, Pryce wanted to talk with Father Emonds, he could do so only if there was a direct wire connection between the two locations. With this type of setup, one neighborhood might be connected on the same wire, with leads dropping off into various homes and businesses, and if there were several parties on this line, one subscriber called another by giving the appropriate ring.

While this system worked well for those on the same line, without a central connecting point, one “party line” had no way to talk with another “party line”. Thus, it soon became very evident to all that a central exchange office would be needed in order to have some semblance of order where an operator, using one main switchboard, could establish communication between one phone and any other on the growing city-wide network.

In the spring of 1880, Franklin (Frank) V. Moffitt – the manager of the local Western Union Telegraph Office – took the lead in organizing Iowa City’s first central exchange office. The article (below) from the April 14th (1880) edition of the Iowa City Daily Republican gives us more info…

By October of that same year, Moffitt was making great progress…

In an advertisement in the Iowa City Daily Republican on October 6, 1880, Frank Moffitt listed several advantages the telephone had to offer. A person could use it to call the doctor or to order groceries, and it’s potentialities in the world of business were unlimited. Merchants who had once installed a telephone “would not part with it for four times the cash.”

Frank Moffitt was so successful in enlisting subscribers for the proposed exchange that on December 17, 1880, the Iowa City City Council passed an ordinance giving his Iowa City Telephone Exchange permission to use city streets for the installation of telephone poles. Throughout the winter of 1880-1881, local newspapers printed frequent notices of the progress of the work, exhorting crews to “rush up” the poles and “the more the merrier.” By January 1881, lines were being installed, and according to a report in the January 22nd edition of The Daily Republican (see below), the system was coming together nicely.

The Iowa City Telephone Exchange “officially” opened on March 7, 1881, serving about thirty-five phones at the start with many more soon coming on line. The exchange was located at 110 1/2 East Washington Street (see map above), just above Frank Moffitt’s Western Union Telegraph Office.

Editors of The Republican were busy compiling a directory of phone owners, advising all who desired phones to notify the company at once. This directory became a card listing the names and numbers of subscribers. As additional telephone were installed, the Republican promised to give notice to its readers to add the new names and numbers to their directories. On February 19, 1881, a listing card was published and distributed with fifty-four names on the list and a promise of more persons ready to join. **Sadly, no copies of the first directory seem to have been preserved, and the complete list of subscribers was never published in The Republican, but on April 1st these names** (below right) **were printed with instructions to be added to those already on the card:**

Local newspapers reported that the new telephone exchange was a “grand success.” D.H. Ogden, a Cedar Rapids-based investor who held a license for Bell exchanges in eastern Iowa, told The Republican that everything was in good shape and business was thriving. By the end of the first month, the central office in Iowa City, managed by Frank Moffitt, reported an average of about a thousand calls daily among the seventy-three phones in use. Obviously, those who proudly possessed telephones were making diligent use of them!

**Don’t get your wires crossed!** This story comes from historian Dorthy A. Dayton (1984)

Records show that Luella DeWolf (1881-1883) and Ada Carter (1883-1885) were the first daytime telephone operators in Iowa City, and that Frank Patterson was the first night shift operator (1883 to 1885). According to Patterson, the day operators not only oversaw the switchboard but also took care of collections and other business connected with the office, while a lineman was responsible for installing phones and had charge of general maintenance.

Merchants were quick to grasp the advantages which the telephone contributed to the conduct of their business. Only three days after the exchange had opened, an advertisement announced that persons could telephone their orders to Tanner’s mill from Fink’s store or the express office. Bradley’s grocery store had five telephone orders on the morning of March 11th. John Seydel *(below)* reported that he simply couldn’t do without a telephone – one man was busy taking orders, “and the way groceries were called for was a caution.” Nixon and Brainerd, undertakers, advertised that if their services were required at night, call Number 17. The Star Grocery solicited orders by telephone, while A.C. Atwater, who had just received fifty cases of Milwaukee beer, assured thirsty patrons that “orders by telephone (will be) promptly filled.” Read more about the early grocery stores of Iowa City here.

***A tale from Arabian Nights***. *This story comes from historian Dorthy A. Dayton (1984)*

Over the first 50 years of telephone service in Iowa City, there were numerous names and locations assigned to the central exchange unit, and for a short time (1899-1909), there were actually two different exchanges competing for customers across the city!

In 1880, as Frank Moffitt – the local telegraph agent – was pulling together the Iowa City Telephone Exchange, records indicate that D.H. Ogden of Cedar Rapids and his business partner, G. B. Engle, were working alongside Moffitt, using the corporate name of Hawkeye Telephone Company. Apparently, Ogden and Engle had been granted the Bell license for parts of Iowa, had started a successful exchange in Cedar Rapids, and were interested, to some degree, in helping Moffitt here in Iowa City. Records show that Ogden & Engle played a role here, but by early 1881 had withdrawn their direct involvement in Iowa City. Interestingly, Ogden didn’t disappear for long as his name shows up once again in local newspapers in 1882, this time as a supervisor of the reorganized and renamed Bell licensee – Iowa Telephone and Telegraph.

As we mentioned earlier, Frank Moffitt first opened the Iowa City Telephone Exchange on March 7, 1881 at 110 1/2 East Washington Street (map above #1), just above Moffitt’s Western Union Telegraph Office. By 1891, the exchange moved just down the street to 126 1/2 East Washington (map above #2), and by 1893, a city directory lists yet another new address – 210 1/2 East Washington (map above #3) – the exchange’s home until 1911.

Read more about Thomas C. Carson and his influence in Iowa City. Which brings us now to…

Within twenty years from the opening of Iowa City’s first telephone exchange, a second – and independent – exchange was established. In 1899, the Johnson County Telephone Company opened just a few storefronts east of the Iowa City Telephone Exchange – now called the Iowa City Telephone Company. In 1904, The Iowa City Daily Press offered this glowing review of this new startup company (below)…

Located at 222 1/2 East Washington Street, the Johnson County Telephone Company advertised “1500 free connections in Iowa City and vicinity.”

Since the two Iowa City telephone companies did not interconnect, businesses had to buy service from both companies. This made for a lot of confusion; however, and some firms – Union Brewery (see above left), for example – were fortunate enough to have the same phone number with both exchanges. Other firms – such as the Chicago Grain & Elevator Co. (above right) – were not so lucky, and would advertise giving both their Bell number and their Johnson County number!

After a decade of head-to-head competition, on November 15, 1909, the Iowa City Daily Press reported (see below) that the Iowa Telephone Company (formerly Iowa City Telephone Co.) had purchased the Johnson County Telephone Company. Apparently, earlier that year, a postal card ballot of Johnson County Telephone patrons disclosed that 88% favored having only one telephone system in Iowa City, so with the handwriting on the wall, Iowa Telephone took the lead in negotiating – as The Daily Press called it – a Big Telephone Deal…

Once the two companies merged, by 1911, the one exchange – now simply known as The Iowa Telephone Company – moved into the narrow three-story Stillwell building at 227 East Washington Street (see map & pic above), remaining there for the next 18 years. One final name change occurred in 1920 when Iowa Telephone joined the larger, five-state Bell-licensed network called Northwestern Bell Telephone Company.

On Saturday, February 13, 1926, a fire started in the Englert Theatre – located only two storefronts away from the Northwestern Bell Telephone office!

*This story comes from historian Dorthy A. Dayton (1984)*

In the afternoon edition of the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Iowa Citians learned about the bravery of the thirty-one Bell Telephone operators who remained, without fear, on duty…

One bit of outstanding heroism that was a result of the big fire this morning was the action of the thirty-one girls employed in the local exchange of the Northwestern Bell Telephone company. With the Englert building less than forty-three feet to the west an inferno of flame, the entire day force stayed calmly at their switchboards and answered incoming calls.

**“Hello Girls” Real Heroes** – Above are the thirty-one Northwestern Bell Telephone operators who stayed on duty at the switchboard during the Englert Theatre fire in February of 1926. From left to right: Back row: Anna Dvorsky, Wilma Trundy, Elsie Grundbacher, Loretta Miller, Gwen Wiese, Helen Clark, Loretta Bradley, Gladys Fuhrmeister, Claudia Doliesh and Florence Carlson; Middle row: Anne McComas, Anna Miller, Marie Young, Leona Sullivan, Clara Shulthise, (unknown), Alma Soucek, Blanche Lukosky, Freda Hills, Etta Shulthise, and Ethel Hills; Front row: Lela Campbell, Estella Todd, Florence Cone, Irma Bouquot, Pearl Conklin, Hattie Goody – Chief Operator, Ferndell Sims, Laura Peet Myra Groh, and Sylvia Boone.

*These pics come from historian Dorthy A. Dayton (1984)*

In 1929, construction was completed on the first floor of a new, company-owned exchange building at 302 South Linn Street. The toll division – AT&T – first moved to the new location, followed by the business office, and when the second and third floors were completed – July 31, 1932 – all the operators made the move, and with it, Iowa City converted to the latest innovation in service – the dial telephone!

The Northwestern Bell Telephone building – which still stands on the southeast corner of Linn & Burlington Streets (above) – became known to many employees as “The Graham Cracker” because of the light brown siding applied to the building when the fourth and fifth floors were added in the 1970’s.

*This pic comes from historian Dorthy A. Dayton (1984)*

The Bell Telephone operators remained on duty until the Iowa City phone traffic department closed on March 31, 1981. The last telephone operator in Iowa City was Jeris Kaalberg – she was the only operator at the board on that final day.

*The Press-Citizen’s Nan Seelman offered this article on April 10, 1981.*

Before we close this story on the golden age of telephones in Iowa City, we must tell you a bit more about the entrepreneur who needs to be remembered for organizing The Iowa City Telephone Company – the first telephone exchange company in town – Franklin (Frank) V. Moffitt, Jr.

*Above is a copy of the U.S. Census from 1870 which shows the Moffitt family farming in Johnson County.*

Frank V. Moffitt, Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1852 to Franklin V. Moffitt, Sr. (1825-1890) and Margaret S. Sexton Moffitt (1831-1880). Moffitt, Sr. was a farmer, born in Pennsylvania, and around 1853, moved to Iowa, where he and his wife settled with their oldest son – Franklin V., Jr. (1852-1921), Zelina A. (1857-1884), Everett (1860-?), Elmer E. (1862-1884), Carrie (1866-1956), and Wayne (1869-1870). Frank Sr. served in the Union Army during the Civil War (22nd Iowa Infantry-Company G), and it’s believed that after the war, prior to 1870, the Moffitts moved to Johnson County (see census records above) where both Frank, Sr. and Margaret are buried in Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City.

According to an article taken from the December 10, 1904 edition of The Iowa City Daily Press (below), Frank, Jr. began his long career with the Western Union Telegraph Company working as a delivery boy (age 15) in Kellogg, Iowa (Jasper County) before becoming a manager there. Climbing the corporate ladder, Frank was assigned as manager of the Western Union office in Iowa City (the early 1880’s), and it was in that role, he became the key organizer of The Iowa City Telephone Company (1880-1881).

As you can read from this 1904 article, Frank Moffitt went from Iowa City to Davenport to Sioux City, moving up the corporate ladder of the Western Union Telegraph Company. From there, he headed to Wisconsin, before becoming the Operational Manager in Chicago (1904). Sadly, Frank’s wife – Kathyrn – died at the young age of 38 in 1900 while the family lived in Sioux City (see below).

From Chicago, Frank V. Moffitt eventually headed back east to Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, where he died at age 68/69 in March 1921.

Despite being gone from Iowa City for many years, it’s obvious that many Iowa Citians fondly remembered Frank V. Moffitt (1852-1921), and his wife, Kathyrn A. Matthews Moffitt (1861-1900). Both are buried at Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, and there appears to be no children from their twenty-one years of marriage. Godspeed, Mr. & Mrs. Moffitt. Thank you for your labor in serving this community during these formative years in our city’s history!

On July 1, 1976, The Iowa City Press-Citizen published a special 76-page Bicentennial edition. In that edition there were articles and pictures related to stories found on this page. You can read more here.