TEXAS OVER TIME: The Texas Telephone Company Exchange Building, 119 North 9th Street, Waco, Tx.

By Geoff Hunt, Audio and Visual Curator, The Texas Collection, Baylor University. 

Texas has changed quite a bit over the years, as is readily seen in our vast photograph and postcard collections. To help bring some of those changes to life, we’ve created a “Texas over Time” blog series that will illustrate the construction and renovations of buildings, street scenes, and more. Our collections are especially strong on Waco and Baylor images, but look for some views beyond the Heart of Texas, too.

Located on 119 North 9^th Street, Waco, Texas, is the old Texas Telephone Company Exchange Building. It was completed in 1916, and was headquarters for the Texas Telephone Company through 1927. The company was incorporated on September 24, 1914, and its president was J.B. Earle. It was an independent, Waco based entity that began after merging with five smaller telephone systems located across Central (Lorena, Mart, McGregor, Moody, Waco, and West), South, and East Texas. Some of the companies the T.T.C. merged with include the Brazos Valley Telegraph and Telephone Co., and the South Texas Telephone Company. The 1914 merger proved to be very successful, and resulted in the Texas Telephone Company serving 34 towns in Texas, spreading north to the Oklahoma border, and south to the Gulf. According to the Waco Chamber of Commerce News, January 1920, the Texas Telephone Company “has an investment of 5 million dollars ($64.9 million in 2020) in telephone properties in Waco and a number of other cities and towns in Central Texas, is managed by Waco men; and many of its stockholders and bondholders are citizens of Waco and Central Texas, and it occupies, as its general offices in Waco, one of the most modern telephone exchange buildings of the size in the country.”

The construction of Waco’s Texas Telephone Company Exchange Building at North 9^th Street grew out of a 1916 merger when this company bought out the Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company of Waco. This consolidated Waco’s two telephone systems and more space was needed for them to operate. In regards to the recent construction of the building, the Waco Chamber of Commerce News, January 1920, reported: “The company at that time erected a very complete and modern telephone building, installing new equipment throughout, and practically rebuilding the entire plant [telephone system] in this city.” Further, by 1920, the Texas Telephone Company employed approximately 700 people, including those in Waco, and beyond. However, even with such a successful start, the local company would soon merge with an even bigger telephone entity. The Waco-based Texas Telephone Company was bought out on December 31, 1927, by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. The North 9^th Street building was then used by Bell until a larger one was constructed in 1948, and located next door on 824 Washington Avenue. Today, the old T.T.C. building and the Southwestern Bell building are both used by the McLennan County Archives for their operations and records storage.

The “Then in 1916” picture in the image sequence below shows: the Texas Telephone Company Exchange Building, located at 119 North 9th Street, Waco, Texas. Photographer, unknown, Waco Chamber of Commerce News, January 1920, The Texas Collection, Baylor University. Same view in 2020 by GH.

The “Then in 1916” picture in the image sequence below shows: the Texas Telephone Company Exchange Building, located at 119 North 9th Street, Waco, Texas. Photographer, E.C. Blomeyer, E.C. Blomeyer Photographic collection #3886, tx-phoarch-blomeyer_3886-wctsa-758.2.tif, The Texas Collection, Baylor University. Same view in 2020 by GH.

The “Then in 1916” picture in the image sequence below shows: Moving into The Texas Telephone Company headquarters, located at 119 North 9th Street, Waco, Texas. Photographer, E.C. Blomeyer, E.C. Blomeyer Photographic collection #3886, tx-phoarch-blomeyer_3886-wctsa-497.2.tif, The Texas Collection, Baylor University. Same view in 2020 by GH.

Works Sourced:

E.C. Blomeyer Photographic collection #3886, The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

“Texas Telephone Co., Waco, Texas.” “Standard Corporation Service, Daily Revised” (May 1-December 31, 1914): 260. Accessed September 28, 2020.

“Waco Chamber of Commerce News.,” January 1920, Volume 1 Number 9, The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Registration. Waco Downtown Historic District. Available at: https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/survey/highway/Waco%20Downtown%20Historic%20District%20Waco.pdf