FIRST DIAL TELEPHONE IN AUBURN

Excerpts from "Auburn - Century of Memories"
published, March, 1988 by the Placer County Historical Society

by Ken Heffren

When I came to Auburn in 1938, Auburn was the only town that the Bell System had in Placer Co. with a common battery system. From Rocklin to Soda Springs, all the telephones were magneto type. Magneto telephones had a generator in the base, with a crank you had to turn in order to generate electrical impulses. This impulse would operate a relay on the switchboard that in turn would release a drop (as we called it) . Actually it was a relay that would release a lever that would operate a buzzer to tell the operator that someone was calling. The operator would then connect a cord to your line, then to the line you were calling, and ring their telephone bell. The talk battery was supplied by three one and a half volt Bell Batteries located in the base of the telephone. If you had a newer type phone, the batteries would be located under your house some place with easy access as they had to be replaced from time to time depending on how much you used your telephone. The switchboards were located in grocery stores or private homes. So, the operator was a store clerk or a home owner. . .

The common battery system that Auburn had used lamps on the switchboards instead of relays. The batteries were located in the central office, along with the switchboards. Nat’s clothing store located at 920 Lincoln Way is where the central office was, and the batteries were in the basement. (Note: Nat’s is closed). . . . The installers truck, a 1936 Ford, Model B, V8, was kept in Duncan’s garage which is the JC Penney Store today.

. . .As the area began to grow, the office switchboards could not handle the demand for service. So the company started replacing the smaller towns with North Electric dial systems. This system was designed during WWII for communications on our battle ships, carriers and other craft in the US Navy. Rocklin and Loomis were the first to receive the new offices in 1947. Penryn and Applegate came next, then Soda Springs and Emigrant Gap. Dutch Flat and Alta were replaced with a used dial office from Sharps Park near San Francisco. Lincoln and Newcastle followed Auburn. Placer Hills 878 office was either Applegate or Auburn at that time.

By 1952, the Auburn office had added all the switchboards it could handle and there were 400 customers waiting for service. On May 28, 1952, the new step by step central office located at 1125 Lincoln Way was placed into service with over 3,000 lines. It was called a step-by-step system because each time you dialed a number, a switch in the central office would step to the position you dialed, connecting you to the line and ringing the number you wanted.