Chelmsford’s Fabric

Business Need

In 1903 several merchants in Chelmsford Center wanted a telephone connection between their homes and places of business. With the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. in its infancy, these businessmen chose to do it on their own. They completed plans and then a Mr. Crosby, who lived on Turnpike Road, bought telephones from a Boston company.

Wall phones at the time used two dry batteries like those used in early auto ignitions to reproduce the voice. A hand-crank magneto rang the bell. Telephones were all on one circuit, so when one rang, they all rang.

Wires connecting some early subscribers were just strung on trees and buildings. Later, most of the telephone lines were carried on three-to-four-inch diameter cedar poles. Subscribers covered the cost of line breaks and central station installation proportionately under a gentlemen’s agreement. 

Users

Some of the earliest business to home connections were:

• The Cushing Place grain and sawmill run by Herbert Sweetser and George Day with Herbert’s home at 187 Boston Road
• Ervin Sweetser’s market in Central House with his residence at 20 Chelmsford Street
• Eben Adams’ grocery in the Odd Fellows Building, with his home at 25 North Road

More homes and businesses joined into a single line system including:

• Fred Hazen house at 103 Boston Road
• Joseph Warren’s home at 91 Boston Road
• Edwin Perham’s home at 76 Westford Street
• From Perham’s the line ran across fields to Littleton Road where it connected to the Chelmsford Ginger Ale Building.

Expansion

Others wanting phones could join if they installed the necessary wires. The system increased until there were about fifteen phones in the Center and a few in South Chelmsford:

• Harry Parkhurst, railroad station agent, connected the Center depot to his home at 38 Boston Road
• Arthur Dutton connected his greenhouse in Pine Hill Road to his house at Locust Road and High Street
• From the Dutton’s the line went up Locust Road to the corner of Robin Hill Road, then to South Chelmsford
• John Emerson’s grocery store at 320 Acton Road connected with his home at 23 Maple Road next to the tracks
• Lyman Byam had the South Chelmsford depot connected with his residence at 305 Acton Road
• Emile Paignon had a phone at his 66 Proctor Road slaughterhouse
• George B. Wright had one at his 187 Acton Road nursery
• Frank Byam had one at his 19 Maple Road residence

Overload

Once there were about twenty-five phones all connected on the Chelmsford system it became overloaded. If a phone rang and all the subscribers listened in, the voice signal was too faint. Implementation of two circuits fixed this, one for the Center and one for South Chelmsford. A central office at 29 High Street had resident Minnie Knowlton as operator. Anyone wishing to call the South section from the Center, and vice versa, called Minnie to make the connection.

Buyout

As time went on the New England Telephone and Telegraph Co. installed more phones, provided out-of-town Service. Sometime after 1909 they bought out the original Chelmsford subscribers.

Reference:

The recollections of Arnold C. Perham as dictated to Hazel Stevens and published in the March 10, 1968, issue of the “Lowell Sunday Sun”