Byron Calling Cell phones practically graft themselves to most people’s hands these days, or so it seems. Phone booths have all but disappeared, and the venerable touch-tone, princess, and rotary dial phones are non-existent in most homes. Thanks to the advancement of technology and the Internet, telephones, in their traditional sense, fit into the palm of your hand and can connect you with anyone around the world almost instantly, depending on your Wi- Fi connection. In 1884—a mere 140 years ago—Byron residents who wanted to use the telephone had to travel to the local pumphouse. The telephone was likely a wall-mounted box with a handle the user cranked to power a battery that sent a signal to an operator. That operator would then connect the call. Instead of travelling through airwaves, the signal piggy-backed on existing telegraph wires. By the 1880s, Bell Telephone had incorporated, and private and municipal telephone companies were springing up all over the province. At its peak, almost 1,100 companies were operating telephone exchanges in Ontario. The Municipal Amendment Act of 1906 paved the way for installing utility poles along municipal roads and highways, increasing the infrastructure and lowering costs, which made telephone services accessible to more people. That same year, a meeting was held in the growing village of Byron to discuss and subsequently agree to create its own local company. A board of directors was formed, and the Byron Telephone Company received its charter in 1908. Ralph Irwin managed the company for 30 years.
Byron Telephone Company Stock certificate
“When the Byron telephone lines were run into Delaware, each subscriber was required to purchase at least one stock of the Byron Telephone Company. This stock was purchased by my grandfather Frank Mahler, the Delaware Ford dealer, when he got his first telephone” John Mahler. The first switchboard was installed in McLaren’s store. Initial subscribers had to buy one share of the company for $30 and pay $22 for a telephone to access the service. In 1912, Byron Telephone moved from McLaren’s store to the renovated Fortner house, formerly McMillan’s Tavern, on the northwest corner of Boler and Commissioners Road. It moved again in 1950 to a new building a block away on the northwest corner of Boler Road and Springbank Avenue. The seventh-largest independent phone company in Ontario, Byron Telephone serviced Byron, Lambeth, Delaware, and Belmont. Four operators lived at the Fortner house under Grace Irwin’s supervision. By 1924, 722 phones were in service, and by 1960, when Bell Telephone bought the local company, there were 3,200 phones in the area. You will find Byron Auto on the corner of Boler and Commissioners now. An office plaza with a Pizza Hut sits at Boler and Springbank Avenue. Like the phone booths and the rotary phones, the Byron Telephone Company has faded into history.
Byron Telephone Building, NW corner of Boler and Commissioners
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