On this day in Arlington history, October 7, 1937, the press announces “NEW PHONE BUILDING FOR ARLINGTON”
“Plans for the introduction of dial service in the walnut Exchange and the erection of a new building (see artist rendering and more color photo) to provide quarters for the new equipment and the Telephone Company’s local headquarters have been announced by John A. Cummins, Arlington Manager for the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Virginia. The project will involve expenditures of approximately $1,000,000.
“Mr. Cummins state that the rapid development of Arlington County makes it necessary to provide enlarged and improved service facilities, and careful studies by the company’s engineers indicate that dial service will best meet the present and future needs of this exchange. The dial equipment will be placed in service about the end of 1938 or the early part of 1939. Operation of the manual switchboard will continue at its present location.
“The company’s new building will be located at 1025 North Irving Street and will be a two-story structure of gray brick rimmed with limestone. Of contemporary architectural design, the building will be of a modern and fire-proof construction throughout, and will provide approximately 22,750 square feet of floor space with a frontage of 113 feet and a depth of 103 feet. In addition to the new dial equipment and associated apparatus, the building will house the company’s business office, district offices, operating room and operators quarters. It is designed to permit additions to be made when needed. Ground will probably be broken by the end of 1937.”
Cummins was a VA native. He moved to the Washington area in 1924 and joined C&P as an auditor. He worked for C&P for 30 years, retiring in 1964. He was an elder of the Clarendon Presbyterian Church and a member of the Lyon Village Citizens Association, He was also a president of the Arlington Kiwanis Club and a director of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. The building was at 1025 N. Irving.
You can learn more about the changes in the telephone that C&P was trying to accommodate at http://www.nationalitpa.com/history-of-telephone.
