Telephone service came to Bay St. Louis August 18, 1899 and 47 total telephones were initially served by this exchange. One year later the total number of telephones had climbed to 108 and by 1905 to 190. It wasn’t until 1910 that the total number of telephones served by the Bay St. Louis exchange passed the 200 mark. By 1915, there were 251 and in 1920, following World War I, the total had climbed to 339.
Growth in the area continued during the twenties and 1925 saw telephones in service grow to 548 and to 626 in 1930. The effect of the depression was evident during the thirties when in 1935 the total telephones served by the Bay St. Louis exchange dropped to 370. By 1940 the total climbed to 530 and in 1945, following World War II, the total was 765.
During the hurricane that struck the coast September 19, 1947, Bay St. Louis experienced winds reaching maximum velocity of 100 miles per hour. Weather reports showed a rainfall of over 8 inches and tides of 12 feet above normal. Property damage was tremendous with a great deal of damage to telephone facilities, yet service was totally restored in just days following this devastating storm by telephone workmen who stayed on the job day and night to restore services.
Two operators, Mrs. Victoria S. Becker and Miss Marie L. Strong received the Vail Medal for their strong sense of devotion and service to their community during the storm. The Vail Medal is the highest award the company bestows for acts and services so outstanding that they deserved recognition. Mrs. Becker and Miss Strong arrived for work that fateful morning at the Bay St. Louis central office, which was located on North Beach over Stevensons Electric and the Sea Coast Echo, and refused to leave their switchboard as the storm worsened. They gave special service to the Red Cross, U.S. Weather Observation Station and the high school where refugees were gathered, until the last line was silenced by the hurricane.
After telephoning for outside help the pair protected the switchboard in the flooded room with a tarpaulin and blankets. They manned the switchboard until all lines went out of commission even though near by buildings were demolished and four windows of the telephone building were blown in. They remained at their job stepping from chair to chair. The last line went out at 10:00AM, but they insisted on remaining on duty until 5:00PM when the storm had abated and other employees could arrive to relieve them.
By 1950, the Bay St. Louis exchange served 1,614 total telephones, and by 1955 the total exceeded 2,100. In May of 1957, the exchange was converted to dial telephones.
The early system was “Manual” or better known as a “magneto system.” Each home or business had a telephone set consisting of a hand cranked magneto to ring the operator. It had dry cell batteries which supplied the voltage needed to talk . Prior to this period a wet battery, similar to an automobile battery was used.
“Central” answered you with “number please” and you were connected with any line you wanted. The “dial system” did this faster and with a minimum of maintenance, using only a fraction of the power and space needed for the electro-technical gear. Because the ESS was a stored program control system, it could be instructed to let a customer transfer calls, bring a third party into the conversation, be given a signal while he is talking that someone else is trying to call, or even dial a frequently dialed number with two digits. The Touch-Tone telephone was another optional service that was available with this new ESS central office.
A variety of other services marked the advancement of technology: television programs, tele- typewriting, drawings, photographs, computer data and diagrams were all sent over the network.
Doctors were able to read electrocardiograms sent over their telephone lines.Business men were able to use the new Transaction Telephone to verify checks and credit cards.
Wide area Telecommunications Service (WATS) was designed for business customers who made or received large volumes of calls.
Design Line telephones gave customers a wide range of styles, shapes and colors in instruments.
At that time—–the Bell telephone network had been called “the most complicated system ever built by man” and it wasn’t finished yet.
In the 1940’s
The telephone company was located at 200 South Beach Blvd., right above the Sea Coast Echo Building. At that time it was known as Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company.
“The business office,” says Ilena Luke retired operator, “was also located in the same room. It was divided by a folding screen. The repair service was in the back of the switch board.”
The operators knew most of the numbers of people who had telephones.
“I still can remember a good bit of the numbers,” says Ilena. “The doctors, the schools, drugstores, the sheriff’s office, and quiet a few of the business numbers.”
“There was no air conditioning at that time (in the 40’s) and one of the funniest things I remember is how we had big box fans on the floor, one at each end of the switch board, and on hot days they put large tubs filled with ice in front of the fans to cool the air. That was our cooling system.”
“At the time we had to work local, long distant, and repair service, recalls Ilena, “ We only had direct circuits to New Orleans, and Gulfport, Mississsippi, Logtown, and Pearlington. All long distance calls were rerouted through New Orleans or Gulfport.” Only two operators worked all night from 10:00PM to 7:00AM.
Ilena recalls one New Year’s eve when she and Betty Carver Wilkens had to work alone.
“Everybody was getting ready to celebrate and we had to work. Nobody was calling and we were really bored. But when it struck midnight the switch board began to light up. We started to laugh. We didn’t know if we could put all those calls through. However, they all just wanted to wish ua s happy New Year! That really made a difference, to think these people in a middle of a big celebration would take a minute to wish us a happy New Year. That made our night.”