# Telephones in the old west?



## Dave Watson (Jul 19, 2017)

My WIP is set in the Napa Valley in the year 1882. I'm trying to figure out how widely used telephones were at this point in history, and if it's conceivable that a well-to-do businessman and the local sheriff's office would have such a device. Best info I've found so far states...

In 1885 American Telegraph and Telephone Company (AT&T) was formed; it dominated telephone communications for the next century.​​​By 1900 there were nearly 600,000 phones in Bell's telephone system; that number shot up to 2.2 million phones by 1905, and 5.8 million by 1910.​​​Any wild west historians on board? 

Cheers, and a hearty YEEEEEE-HAAAAAAW!


----------



## Dave Watson (Jul 19, 2017)

Ever read back over what you've posted and realise what a colossal idiot you've just made of yourself? 

If AT&T were formed in 1885, and my story's set in 1882, it seems mighty unlikely that the Napa Valley would have been a hub of telecommunication.  

And this kids, is why we have a thing called proof-reading! 

* multiple facepalms


----------



## ppsage (Jul 19, 2017)

What you don't say here is what the telephone might have been connected to. In 1882 a rich, and probably eccentric, person could have easily put in a line from, say, his home to the office. Or the mine headquarters. Or the maid's quarters. If he was really rich and half cracked, he might set up a tiny local exchange. If any of this sort of thing is useful in the fiction you're contemplating, it could make a cool point of interest. But most real communication would have been telegraph. Laying temporary telegraph lines to battlefields was a, slightly successful, thing in the American Civil War.


----------



## Jack of all trades (Jul 19, 2017)

Dave Watson said:


> Ever read back over what you've posted and realise what a colossal idiot you've just made of yourself?



Oh, yeah. I HATE when that happens! 

This glimpse at your story has me intrigued, though. Good luck with it!


----------



## Jack of all trades (Jul 19, 2017)

ppsage said:


> What you don't say here is what the telephone might have been connected to. In 1882 a rich, and probably eccentric, person could have easily put in a line from, say, his home to the office. Or the mine headquarters. Or the maid's quarters. If he was really rich and half cracked, he might set up a tiny local exchange. If any of this sort of thing is useful in the fiction you're contemplating, it could make a cool point of interest. But most real communication would have been telegraph. Laying temporary telegraph lines to battlefields was a, slightly successful, thing in the American Civil War.



I could be wrong, but since Dave asked about the likelihood that a business man and a sheriff would have phones, it sounds like he was considering having the business man call the sheriff.

I further risk looking like a bigger idiot than Dave by speculating that the sheriff would have only gotten a phone when the town/city chipped in to pay for it. And that would have been unlikely in 1882.


----------



## Dave Watson (Jul 20, 2017)

Jack of all trades said:


> I could be wrong, but since Dave asked about the likelihood that a business man and a sheriff would have phones, it sounds like he was considering having the business man call the sheriff.
> 
> I further risk looking like a bigger idiot than Dave by speculating that the sheriff would have only gotten a phone when the town/city chipped in to pay for it. And that would have been unlikely in 1882.



Yep, that's the case. Businessman is a gin distillery owner, and the sheriff's office is a few miles down the trail. Thanks for the help guys!


----------



## lmarie (Aug 10, 2017)

They had a phone in the Olsons hotel toward the end of the little house tv series right when phones were first invented. Im not sure how realistic it was for such a small town to have a phone then but it was realistic enough that they got away with it lol. I think the blind school also had a phone. It makes sense the Sheriff office in a larger town would have a phone.


----------

