T-U Archives, Larry Stanford/The Thomaston Times
On September 20, 1952, the Thomaston Telephone Company switched from manual connections made by local operators to automatic dialing. Before 1952, to make a call, you would pick up the receiver and there would be an operator on the line waiting to place your call for you. After the change, you dialed the number yourself. 2012 is the 60th anniversary of the change over, and to mark the anniversary, Phil Harris of Thomaston, who helped install the switching system for the Thomaston Telephone Company presented the Thomaston-Upson Archives with a Stromberg Carlson XT switch similar to the one used in the system. The upper photos shows some of the Thomaston Telephone Company operators at their switchboards prior to the change over. In the right photo, Phil Harris presents Archivist Penny Cliff with the Stromberg Carlson XT switch.







