Miami Telephone Service in 1899

The first telephone service in the City of Miami became available on February 24, 1899.

Cover: The Townley Building in 1900. Courtesy of Florida State Archives.

The City of Miami was granted telephone service in December of 1898 and two months later, the newly formed Miami Telephone Company was incorporated in 1899 and began offering service on February 24, 1899. The first switchboard operated out of the Red Cross Drugstore, located in the Townley Building, which was in downtown Miami at the corner of today’s Miami Avenue and SW First Street.

Figure 1: The first telephone directory published in 1902. Courtesy of Florida State Archives.

The company moved their location to 314 Twelfth Street (Flagler Street), by the time they printed their first phone directory in 1902. Telephone lines were extended to Lemon City and Coconut Grove within a few years of offering service. The company was the first to broadcast music in Miami by transmitting songs from the switchboard to subscribers who listened on their telephones.

Figure 2: Headline in the Miami Daily News on January 1, 1925.

In 1917, the Miami Telephone Company, with more than 2000 subscribers, became the South Atlantic Telephone Company. On December 31, 1924, all properties of South Atlantic Telephone were merged with the Southern Bell Company.

Figure 3: South Atlantic Telephone Company’s downtown location on September 8, 1925. Courtesy of Florida State Archives.

Resources:

Tequesta Magazine: Volume Number XXVII in 1967, page 61.

Miami News: “Southern Bell Takes Charge”, January 1, 1925