This old-timey sign belongs to a store on Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill. the UL exchange stood for Ulster.
But what was Ulster? It’s a mystery. A New York Times article from February 1947 announced that 4,200 households in Flatbush “who have wanted telephone installations since the beginning of the war” would be getting UL numbers.
Strangely, Joe’s Superette, on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, also has a UL number. That’s a bit of a hike from Myrtle Avenue.
Meanwhile, on a residential building in Harlem, the “In Case of Emergency” number above still stands next to an elevator shaft. LE for Lenox Avenue.
Tags: Carroll Gardens, clinton hill, Joe's Superette, LE phone exchange, Lenox Avenue, Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, old New York City phone exchanges, old phone exchanges, UL phone exchange, Ulster phone exchange
November 10, 2009 at 1:28 pm |
Ulster is a county in New York, across the Hudson from Dutchess County (Poughkeepsie). Originally it’s a county in Ireland.
November 10, 2009 at 2:30 pm |
not a county, but a province, one of four covering the island
November 10, 2009 at 2:10 pm |
Usually old phone exchanges are tied into a neighborhood street or landmark, like LE for Lenox Ave. But I’ve never heard of Ulster Street or an Ulster factory in the area.
December 6, 2009 at 3:52 pm |
When I was a kid, our exchange was LE5 – it stood for LeHigh, not Lenox.
Christ I can’t believe I remember this. I’m only 43.
August 27, 2010 at 10:56 pm |
Ulster is, of course, of Irish heritage, and many many Irish-Americans found their way to Brooklyn. That’s the connection I always knew.
There were some Ulster numbers downtown, and others in the Flatbush area, but those did not share the same third digit.