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American District Telephone Company was one of the first telephone companies to operate in the East Bay of San Francisco. According to historian Beth Bagwell, "The first switchboard [located in Oakland, CA] was in the offices of the American District Telephone Company at 1002 Broadway. The switchboard consisted of a strip of walnut four inches wide and several feet long, fastened to the wall. It had a number of brass clips on it, one for each subscriber, that served as terminals. When a call came, a boy would make a circuit by connecting the proper clips with two brass plugs united by a length of cotton- covered wire." (See Beth Bagwell, Oakland: The Story of a City, Oakland Heritage Alliance, Oakland, 1982,Accessed 10/17/2012.)

PCAD id: 18114