St. Charles in St. Charles County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
215 North Main
Bell Telephone Office 1909-1957
1866 Valentine Zerr
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), October 7, 2018
1. 215 North Main Marker
Inscription.
215 North Main. Bell Telephone Office . 1909-1957. German shoemaker Valentine Zerr leased this building to the Bell Telephone Co. for $40 per month from 1909 to 1928. Local and long-distance calls were connected manually on the switchboard. Operators were required to have a good voice and good penmanship. Operators handled everything from unusual questions to emergency calls. The night operator in the 1950s, Mabel Wilke, often repeated the story of a call from an expectant dad whose wife was in labor at home. The baby came quickly, and as the dad was reporting the news to Mrs. Wilke, he said, "Oh wait a minute! There's another one!"
German shoemaker Valentine Zerr leased this building to the Bell Telephone Co. for $40 per month from 1909 to 1928. Local and long-distance calls were connected manually on the switchboard. Operators were required to have a good voice and good penmanship. Operators handled everything from unusual questions to emergency calls. The night operator in the 1950s, Mabel Wilke, often repeated the story of a call from an expectant dad whose wife was in labor at home. The baby came quickly, and as the dad was reporting the news to Mrs. Wilke, he said, "Oh wait a minute! There's another one!"
Erected 2010 by Historic Downtown Association.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Industry & Commerce • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1909.
Location. 38° 46.957′ N, 90° 28.844′ W. Marker is in St. Charles, Missouri, in St. Charles County. It is on North Main Street south of Monroe Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 215 North Main Street, Saint Charles MO 63301, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally,
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this marker is in the Missouri River Corridor and in Greater St. Louis. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, in the Corn Belt, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Antebellum South.
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), October 7, 2018
2. 215 North Main Street
Credits. This page was last revised on December 5, 2020. It was originally submitted on October 14, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 316 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 14, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
