UPSON COUNTY, GA - HISTORY  Telephones  1879

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Printed in Upson Historical Society Newsletters: October 1997


THOMASTON TELEPHONES

The first rumored telephone service in Thomaston was planned in
the form of a private line from Thomaston to Chalyeate Springs in
Meriwether County. Joseph Allen, the adoptive father of Mr. John
Thurston and one of the town's largest merchants, and Mr. E. B.
Thompson, an entrepreneur and mule trader, had purchased the
resort and needed communication from their business here to there.
This came in the summer of 1879. Shortly thereafter, the paper
spoke of a line from here to Barnesville. A number of merchants
planned to set up a company to own the line. Nothing more was
heard of these projects. In 1892 a proposed line from LaGrange to
Thomaston via Woodbury excited some interest. The Times printed no
further telephone news until 1897.

A March 5 item in 1897 indicates that a number of phones are in
use in the town. In fact, Thomaston is part of a network of phones
in Yatesville, Bamesville, Robley, Culloden, and Zebulon, with the
exchange in Yatesville. From Bamesville calls could be transferred
to Macon and Atlanta. Brief conversations were 25 cents on the
network, 60 cents to Atlanta, and 50 cents to Macon. A phone in
your home cost about $ 15 per year. During the rest of this year,
additional local lines were added and a special line also ran to
Pleasant Hill and from there to Talbotton. E. B. Thompson
installed a line from his house to his mule stables.

In February 1898 R. A. Fincher, the jeweler, announced his
intention to install a local exchange. The poles arrived by the
end of the month. In March Fincher bought half of the Cheney
Building with plans to put his exchange on the second floor.
Almost immediately the Times carries reports of residences and
business installing lines.        

The first telephone directory, listing 35 names, appeared in a
column of the Times On April 15, 1898. Fourteen of these were
residences. All directories were published in the newspaper for a
number of years.                                                  

It seems that the first telephone operator was Miss Minnie Smith.