Stearns Telephone

Stearns Telephone (HM1PW3)

Location: Detroit, MI 48226 Wayne County
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Country: United States of America
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N 42° 19.779', W 83° 2.743'

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Inscription
On September 22, 1877, a Bell telephone was installed on this site in the drugstore operated by Frederick Stearns. An iron wire strung along the rooftops connected the store with the Stearns laboratory a half mile away at the foot of Fifth Street. This service, only eighteen months after Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention, was the first to be offered by the organization which eventually developed into the Michigan Bell Telephone Company. A placard in the store window invited the public to drop in every hour on the hour to speak over the amazing new device. Other private lines followed, but it was a year before the first telephone exchange was constructed with fifteen or twenty subscribers on each party line.
Details
HM NumberHM1PW3
Series This marker is part of the Michigan: Michigan Historical Commission series
Tags
Marker NumberS303
Year Placed1972
Placed ByMichigan Historical Commission and Wolverine Chapter No. 10, Telephone Pioneers of America
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 at 1:01pm PST -08:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17T E 331452 N 4688404
Decimal Degrees42.32965000, -83.04571667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 19.779', W 83° 2.743'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 19' 46.74" N, 83° 2' 44.58" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)313, 586, 734, 248
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling South
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 511 Woodward Ave, Detroit MI 48226, US
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