by Gwen Collins …
On Saturday, May 18th, 2019, Washington County Historical Society hosted a reception honoring the ladies and men who worked with Southern Bell and AT&T here in Chipley. Over forty ladies and gentlemen who served as telephone operators dropped by to renew old friendships and share their experiences at the switchboard. The museum and outside pavilion rang with happy exclamations of “I haven’t seen you for years” and “Oh, I remember you!”
Museum Director Dorothy Odom remarked, “At one time, Southern Bell was an important part of Chipley’s history and we wanted to host something special – a family reunion, so to speak – and recognize these folks. We had an excellent turnout and everyone enjoyed visiting and stepping back into the past for a little while. The scrapbooks and photo albums brought back lots of memories!”
For several years the Washington County Historical Society’s museum was housed in the old Ice House which was demolished in April. Several months ago the remaining switchboard was relocated into the museum. It had to be disassembled and it took a while to re-assemble it. The museum now houses two different types of switchboards, a collection of telephones, directory assistance rotary stands, and many of the Southern Bell Pioneers’ scrapbooks and photo albums.
Washington County Historical Society’s Museum is open on Fridays from 10AM until 2PM and is located at the Farmer Market Pavilion in downtown Chipley. If you haven’t been by in a while, drop by and check out our telephone history collection and view our other new displays.
