Downtown in Mount Airy in Carroll County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

The Telephone Exchange Building

1910

— Historic Downtown Mount Airy —

The Telephone Exchange Building Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 5, 2022

1. The Telephone Exchange Building Marker

Inscription. This was the 3rd site of the Mount Airy Telephone Exchange. Telephone exchanges were housed in private residences. Mount Airy's first operator was Bessie Davis, who worked out of this home that was once the hub of modern telephone communication in Mount Airy. Telephone calls, usually using three digit numbers followed by a letter that identified the intended party, would come into this building and into multiple switchboards. Live local operators, known as the "Hello Girls", who were residents and more than likely knew the intended party, would connect the caller. The switch boards had hundreds of little holes in a patch board each connected to a telephone number. To connect an incoming call to a specific telephone number, the operator would insert a patch cord between the hole for the incoming line and the hole of the line of the intended subscriber. There could be multiple subscribers per line: this was known as a party line. Calls could be identified by number of rings, but conversations could easily be listened in on by others, if one remained silent during the conversation. Few single party lines existed. Have times

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Erected 2014.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Women.

Location. 39° 22.59′ N, 77° 9.295′ W. Marker is in Mount Airy, Maryland, in Carroll County. It is in Downtown. It is on South Main Street south of Center Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 112 S Main St, Mount Airy MD 21771, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Baltimore Metro Region

and in Central Maryland.

It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies

and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Ruland Bakery and Linthicum House (here, next to this marker); People's Lumber and Supply Building (here, next to this marker); Mount Airy (here, next to this marker); a different marker also named

Mount Airy markers display image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 5, 2022

2. Mount Airy markers display

Mount Airy (here, next to this marker); Butler's Garage (here, next to this marker); The Runkles and Resnick Buildings (here, next to this marker); Dorsey's Store - Vacant Lot (here, next to this marker); Commercial Bank (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mount Airy.

Telephone Operators (“Hello Girls”) image. Click for full size.

Harris & Ewing, photographers (Public Domain) Via Library of Congress (CN 2016853369), circa 1917

3. Telephone Operators (“Hello Girls”)

This is a photograph of the switchboard room in a typical Bell System manual telephone exchange. Until the 1970s all telephone operators and their supervisors were exclusively women. The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, a Bell System company owned by AT&T, operated the telephone exchange in Mount Airy. This photograph is of C&P operators, but was taken in Washington DC, not in Mount Airy.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 7, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 6, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 745 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on June 6, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 2. submitted on June 5, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on April 7, 2025, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.