Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Co.- first telephone company in 
Hammond, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Martin L. Varisco, Jr., Apr. 2003

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Published in the Hammond Vindicator on: March 20, 1969

	It was back in 1898 when the first telephone office in 
Hammond opened for business in the upstairs
floor of the old Boos Building, across the street from the present 
Guaranty Bank Building.
	Hammond was a rapidly growing town on the Illinois Central 
track and was in need of telephone
service.  The Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Co., seeing this 
need, opened the first office and named a
Mr. Gookin to be the first manager.  Cumberland had recently merged 
with Great Southern Telephone and
Telegraph Co.
	Sanora Khonke was named to be in charge of the exchange and 
one of the "Khonke boys" also worked
at the office.  When the business began there were 54 telephone users 
in the area.
	The first two years of growth were slow- there were only 94 
subscribers at the end of 1900.  It was
around 1912 when the Bell System was negotiating for a merger with 
Cumberland and on Jan. 1, 1913, the
transaction was complete.
	As the years progressed so did the telephone service.  In 
1915 there were 378 phones in the Hammond
exchange.  By 1930 this had grown to 843 and by 1940 the total was 1,007.
	The 29 years since 1940 show a tremendous increase in the 
telephone service as new businesses and
industry moved into the area and Southeastern Louisiana College 
continued its rapid growth.
	In 1950 there were 2,999 telephone subscribers but by 1960 
this number had more than doubled to
7,464.  On April 8, 1968, Charles McKaskle, Hammond group manager for 
Southern Bell, presented the
10,000th telephone in the Hammond exchange to Dr. Clea Parker, 
Southeastern Louisiana College.
	The telephone was plated gold and "marked an important 
achievement and a new beginning of progress
for the telephone company," according to McKaskle.
	On July 1, 1968 the telephone company initiated another 
important change.  Southern Bell, composing
the nine states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and
South Carolina, was divided into two different companies.
	The new company in Louisiana was called South Central Bell, 
"The change was primarily for
administrative advantages," explained McKaskle.  "It is part of the 
telephone company's continuing effort to
provide better and more efficient service."
	The new South Central Bell includes the states of Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and
Kentucky.
	Presently there are 10,675 telephone subscribers in the 
Hammond exchange. South Central Bell employs
158 people in the Hammond area.
	Forty-eight of these work as installer and maintenance men, 
90 as operators and eight are business office
personnel.  There are 12 employed as administrators.
	Last year South Central Bell, then called Southern Bell, paid 
a total of $23,703.70 in city taxes and
$213,079.68 in parish taxes.  The business provides a needed and 
important service while bolstering the area's
economy.
	The telephone industry has progressed tremendously during the 
past 70 years.  No longer do they
operate from the old Boos building but now have modern facilities on 
Thomas Street.  No longer do they serve
54 telephones, now they have 10,000 plus and are rapidly increasing.