I don’t know how long B. & H. Electric has been in Prospect Heights, but the NE phone exchange came into use in 1930, when the New York Telephone Company greatly expanded its dialing system.
SA also came into existence in 1930; it covered West Harlem. This rusty relic, advertising another electric company, is still hanging on outside an apartment building in the West 150s.
SA stood for Sacramento. But why Sacramento?
For those perplexed by these and other mysteries of old letter phone prefixes, here’s an exhaustive website that can shed a little light.
Tags: B & T Electric Co., K & G Electric Company, Nevins Street Brooklyn, old phone exchanges, place name phone prefixes, Sacramento phone exchange
July 1, 2010 at 4:22 am |
i would love to know where theses are.
July 1, 2010 at 3:06 pm |
B&H still has the same phone number, just in the 718 now. Very cool.
July 1, 2010 at 6:53 pm |
That NEvins exchange is still around, only now it’s 638. Who knows why Sacramento? There were so many exchanges that seemed to have nothing to do with the location, like EXeter and STillwell in Queens, while others were very geographically linked, like CHelsea, and MUrray Hill.
July 1, 2010 at 7:12 pm |
And Butterfield on the Upper East Side. Why Butterfield?
July 1, 2010 at 10:25 pm |
mine was REgent. still around as 737 or 732.
July 5, 2010 at 4:04 pm |
Manhattan, West 70s: my exchange was ENright 1…, now 631; my landlord’s was SUsquehanna 7…, now 787.
July 12, 2010 at 1:00 am |
My friend Steve Hopkins notes:
There’s always the most famous of all, even if it’s not in NY, never did find out where.
BEachwood-4-5789
http://s0.ilike.com/play#The+Marvelettes:Beechwood+4-5789:146479:s71498.10249564.16836.1.2.46%2Cstd_6461dbdd8b6c494dbf3d658294975659
Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechwood_4-5789
January 25, 2011 at 5:13 pm |
On another note, “adequately wired” – what refreshingly modest marketing copy!