First Telephone on the Beach

[David O'Reilly]

Scott , “on September 24th, 1877, a Mr. Black,a telegraph company official came to the Ocean House to disconnect the telegraph wire. He brought a primitive telephone and connected it up with similar equipment at the Burlington telegraph office.”

Scott “From Gary Evan's book Memories of the Beach Strip, written by Bob Houghton
“the first season must have been quite a success because plans were immediately brought into action to expand. The new facility included an early telephone 1877.”

And It was in 1877, in Hamilton, that the first commercial telephone service was established by Hugh Cossart Baker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Cossart_Baker,_Jr.

so the telephone that was installed in the 1877 Ocean House addition, was probably still using the telegraph system, because it isn’t likely that telephone poles and wires would have been put into place that quickly.

The telephone exchange that Mr. Baker established in Hamilton, was also the first exchange in the British Empire.

 

[Drogo]

The telephone exchange that Mr. Baker established in Hamilton, was also the first exchange in the British Empire.

Wrong
First telephone exchange was Winona.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,
“From the Book, Pathway To Skyway.
________________________________________
In the late 1800's, the telephone was a miraculous new gadget. On September 24, 1877, a Mr. Black, a telegraph company official came to the Ocean House on the beach to disconnect the telegraph wire for the winter. He brought a primitive telephone and connected it up with similar equipment set up at the Burlington telegraph office. Unfortunately the experiment produced a good deal of static. Regular telephone service first came to Burlington in 1885.”

So maybe now we have answered the question ‘when did the first telephone come to the beach’. But the question that has been raised for me is, why was it that the Ocean House had telegraph service’.

Perhaps the answer is, that in addition to being used by railroads, and in the United States, by news papers, it was also used by businesses. In the case of the Ocean House, to receive bookings, and to place orders for food stuffs.

It is interesting to note that when Mr. Black connected the primitive telephone at the Ocean House,the call was made to the Burlington telegraph office. Not to a railroad station.

 

[scotto]

Some very good descriptions have been given on the Ocean House, but no mention of a telegraph office. Maybe it was separate from the building, Fred has stated that there was a telephone office near by, but that would have been after the Ocean House was gone.

 

[scotto]

Wrong
First telephone exchange was Winona.

One would think that the first one would of been in Brantford? Wasn't the telephone invented there?

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,
“Some very good descriptions have been given on the Ocean House, but no mention of a telegraph office. Maybe it was separate from the building, Fred has stated that there was a telephone office near by, but that would have been after the Ocean House was gone.”

1891 ‘The Ocean House, just south of the Burlington Canal was burned down on the 17 July along with the Grand Trunk platform and telegraph office.”
http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/brookes/default.asp?ID=Y1895


so maybe the Ocean House didn’t have a telegraph wire connection. Maybe it was the case that the railroad (in 1877, the Hamilton and North Western) had a telegraph office verry close to it. And the news paper reporter just said “MR. Black went to the Ocean House” to disconnect the telegraph wire” because that’s where it was.

But it would be really interesting to know whether or not it did have telegraph service.

Regarding your question ‘why wasn’t the first telephone exchange in Canada established in Brantford since that’s where the telephone was invented’ the first exchange would hav been established wherever the person with the money and inclenation to do it lived.

I thought that I had read a web page that said that at one time businesses used the telegraph system.


________________________________________

 

[David O'Reilly]

Drogo,
“The telephone exchange that Mr. Baker established in Hamilton, was also the first exchange in the British Empire.

Wrong
First telephone exchange was Winona.”

Do you have a date? Any page that I’ve read indicates that it was Hamilton.

this page indicates that Winona only got its first telephone about 1900.

“The Carpenters were an influential family in the late 19th century. They were even one of the first families to get a telephone around the turn of the 20th century.”
http://oldsaltfleetrecords.behindnelliesclock.com/winona_history.htm

“


________________________________________

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,
“In the late 1800's, the telephone was a miraculous new gadget. On September 24, 1877, a Mr. Black, a telegraph company official came to the Ocean House on the beach to disconnect the telegraph wire for the winter. He brought a primitive telephone and connected it up with similar equipment set up at the Burlington telegraph office.”

Scott,
“From Gary Evan's book "Memories of the Beach Strip, written by Bob Houghton”

“The two and a half storey main building (Ocean House) must have been quite impressive and could likely be seen from many parts of the city and even as far away as the Oakville or Grimsby shorelines.

“The first season must have been quite a successful one because plans were immediately
brought into action to expand the original hotel to include a second building, similar in size, to
completed in 1876.”

“Over in the new facilities, apart from the bar and expanded billiards room, was added a full-sized bowling alley and a gala ballroom and music hall. Other amenities and innovations were also introduced for the service of the visitors to the hotel such as a windmill powered water pump (1878) and even an early telephone (1877).”

FIRST TELEPHONE EXCHANGE IN HAMILTON 1878
“On June 20, 1877, Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr. started up the first commercial telephone service in Canada in the city of Hamilton. Then in 1878, he made the first telephone exchange in the British Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Cossart_Baker,_Jr.

“The "telegraphone" was a type of telephone that was adapted to use existing telegraph wires.

Why did the railroad not simply install conventional telephones ? Primarily because stringing wires is an expensive proposition, sometimes in the hundreds of dollars per mile. Telegraphones were superimposed upon existing telegraph lines by capacitive coupling, along with a "retard coil" to act as an audio-frequency choke.
http://www.telegraphlore.com/telegraph_tales/drgw_web/part1/drgwcommspart1p4.htm

so it would seem that the telephone that was installed in the Ocean House addition in 1877 would probably have used an existing telegraph wire.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,
"From the Book, Pathway To Skyway.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the late 1800's, the telephone was a miraculous new gadget. On September 24, 1877, a Mr. Black, a telegraph company official came to the Ocean House on the beach to disconnect the telegraph wire for the winter."

to me, this can only read that the Ocean House had a connection to the railroad's telegraph wire I.E. its own telegraph key. the Ocean House probably only operated for the summer months. whereas the railroad of course ran year round. so in September, its telegraph connection would have been disconnected.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,
“The first season must have been quite a successful one because plans were immediately
brought into action to expand the original hotel ‘the Ocean House’ to include a second building, similar in size, to
completed in 1876. This new building, south of the original, was to take over as the entertainment centre of the complex, giving the guests at the main hotel greater peace and privacy.
… Over in the new facilities, apart from the bar and expanded billiards room, was added a full-sized bowling alley and a gala ballroom and music hall. Other amenities and innovations were also introduced for the service of the visitors to the hotel such as a windmill powered water pump (1878) and even an early telephone ((1877).”

This seems to be just shortly after the invention of the ‘telephone exchange’.

“Despite the fact that telephone devices existed before the invention of the telephone exchange, their success and economical operation would have been impossible on the same schema and structure of the contemporary telegraph. (Prior to the invention of the telephone exchange switchboard, early telephones were hardwired to and communicated with only a single other telephone (such as from an individual's home to the person's business).)
A telephone exchange is a telephone system located at service centers (central offices) responsible for a small geographic area that provided the switching or interconnection of two or more individual subscriber lines for calls made between them, rather than requiring direct lines between subscriber stations. This made it possible for subscribers to call each other at homes, businesses, or public spaces. These made telephony an available and comfortable communication tool for everyday use, and it gave the impetus for the creation of a whole new industrial sector.
The telephone exchange was an idea of the Hungarian engineer Tivadar Puskás (1844 - 1893) in (1876), while he was working for Thomas Edison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_telephone#Invention_of_the_telephone_exchange

so I wonder if the Ocean House’s 1877 telephone was connected to a telephone exchange, or just to one other party? If the latter, I wonder who that party was?

 

[scotto]

Checking one of our older maps from the Hamilton Public Library, I have noticed a small building near the Lighthouse Keeper's house that is labeled "Telephone Off".
Looking at the scale of the map, it is a reasonable guess that red coloured building is the keeper's house. Correct distance from the lighthouse and the red colour indicates that the structure was brick.

One note to these maps, the above attached map shows the Ocean House as still being in business in 1900 when it burned to the ground in 1875. Another map shows the Hotel Brant, which opened for business on July 2, 1900 (source, Eugene Beals)

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,

“Checking one of our older maps from the Hamilton Public Library, I have noticed a small building near the Lighthouse Keeper's house that labeled "Telephone Off".
Looking at the scale of the map, it is a reasonable guess that red coloured building is the keeper's house. Correct distance from the lighthouse and the red colour indicates that the structure was brick.”

Scott, is there a date on the map?

And where is the ‘telephone office’ in relation to the light keeper’s house and the light house?

 

[scotto]

Scott,

“Checking one of our older maps from the Hamilton Public Library, I have noticed a small building near the Lighthouse Keeper's house that labeled "Telephone Off".
Looking at the scale of the map, it is a reasonable guess that red coloured building is the keeper's house. Correct distance from the lighthouse and the red colour indicates that the structure was brick.”

Scott, is there a date on the map?

And where is the ‘telephone office’ in relation to the light keeper’s house and the light house?

Since you can't see the map I will try to explain as best I can. The map is dated 1900, it shows the lighthouse which we can take for granted that it has never been moved. The scale on the map shows one inch equals 50 feet, but that brings up a contradiction, checking to present distance, the Keeper's house is almost 100 feet from the lighthouse, on the map it would be around 65 feet according to the scale. The telephone office is located very close to the Keeper's house (if that is what it is) on the south west corner of the structure with only enough room for a sidewalk in between the two.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,

“Checking one of our older maps from the Hamilton Public Library, I have noticed a small building near the Lighthouse Keeper's house that labeled "Telephone Off".” “One note to these maps, the above attached map shows the Ocean House as still being in business in 1900 when it burned to the ground in 1875.”

Scott,

You indicate on the ‘Hotels on the Beach’ thread that the Ocean House burned down in 1895.

http://hamiltonbeachcommunity.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-2165.html

“Since you can't see the map I will try to explain as best I can. The map is dated 1900, it shows the lighthouse which we can take for granted that it has never been moved.”

For the benefit of all other members, I should point out that I am blind and therefore obviously can’t see the map.

Scott, thank you for giving the discription.

But back to the 1900 map showing a telephone office. Are there any earlyer maps of the beach at the library – say 1899, 1898…? Showing the telephone office?

It would be interesting if there were, and then find the first map that doesn’t show it. Then, taking the date of the first map that does show it, go to old news paper articles on microfilm at the library to see if there is anything on the telegraph office being built.

 

[David O'Reilly]

Scott,
“In the late 1800's, the telephone was a miraculous new gadget. On September 24, 1877, a Mr. Black, a telegraph company official came to the Ocean House on the beach to disconnect the telegraph wire for the winter. He brought a primitive telephone and connected it up with similar equipment set up at the Burlington telegraph office. Unfortunately the experiment produced a good deal of static. Regular telephone service first came to Burlington in 1885.”

In my subsequent post to Scott’s, I asked, ‘would a nonrailroad building have had a telegraph system’. And it seems that the answer, is ‘yes’. For in 1879, Captain Campbell sent a telegram from the beach to the Hamilton Fire Department.

There was a hot time at the Canal on Friday, 30 May. The Spectator had this to say:
"The piers at the Canal have had many escapes from being consumed by fire during the last two or three years, the cause generally being sparks from passing steamers. Friday was a particularly bad day on account of the very high wind which prevailed and the north pier took fire, near the west end about half past two in the afternoon, the general feeling being that it was caused by the steamer FLORENCE. It was observed by Capt. Campbell shortly after it started and he, along with several citizens of the Beach, proceeded with their buckets, as they had done many times before, to the scene of the blaze. This time, however, their efforts were in vain. The flames spread along the pier with amazing rapidity and it was soon apparent that something more than this primitive style of firefighting was needed. The wind blew burning embers along the pier, starting numerous fires and forcing the retreat Of Capt. Campbell and his crew. About 3:00 p.m. the steamer ECLIPSE came into the canal and landed her passengers. She then crossed over and with her crew manning their fire-hose, began to make some progress until she had to leave to tow some schooners through the Canal. At 4:00 p.m. a telegram was sent to the City and the fire alarm was sounded. The firemen, who had just finished subduing a fire at the Great Western Wharf, got out their old Phoenix engine and loaded it on a flat-car on the H. & N. W. Ry. They arrived at the Canal about 5:00 p.m., after a run of 13 minutes, to find that the pier under the swing bridge was blazing fiercely. After a short battle, the firemen had the situation under control, but nearly half of the pier was badly damaged. The captain of the FLORENCE, although he had a fire pump and hose, did not choose to get involved."
http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/brookes/default.asp?ID=Y1879

the only question that remains is, did Captain Campbell use the telegraph system at the Ocean House, or did he have his own telegraph key in his house.
________________________________________

 

[David O'Reilly]

Perhaps the 1879 news paper article indicated exactly where Captain Campbell sent the telegram from.

 

[scotto]

Fred and myself were looking over this picture of the Keeper's house (Fred had a much better picture) and on the left hand side you can see a small shed with a women sitting out front. The sign above her reads "Bell Telephone Co", this small building isn't in the spot where telephone office is listed on the 1900 insurance map, it is on the opposite corner. Judging by the people in the picture, it may maybe earlier than 1900.
Added, the white sign above the telephone sign reads, "Burlington Beach"
(Edit, I have added Fred's copy of this picture, I assume the picture is credited to Canada Archives.)

 

[scotto]

Attached is an old postcard showing a shed located in the same spot that the insurance map has a telephone office listed. It has the roof style as the one in the picture in the above post, could this be our telephone office?

 

[Drogo]

I would bet money on it. I enlarged it in my photo program and it has the same vertical bars on the sides and and the roof is the same. It's also off side of the end of the house as in the picture above it.

 

[scotto]

I would bet money on it. I enlarged it in my photo program and it has the same vertical bars on the sides and and the roof is the same. It's also off side of the end of the house as in the picture above it.

Also the door is in the exact same spot, Fred always said, "never base history on a postcard" but someone made that scene with the same looking shed. So I agree, it looks the same.