An era that began in 1882 came to an end in Oneonta in 1979. For decades, when you picked up a telephone and spoke to an operator, the voice on the other end was based in Oneonta. A new era of automation replaced operators, but if you still dialed "O," the voice came from the Albany area.

In the early morning of June 23, 1979, the New York Telephone switchboard in Oneonta was closed for the final time at the offices on Elm Street, occupied today by Verizon and the Utica School of Commerce.

Automation equipment was brought in to do much of what operators used to do in handling collect, person-to-person, credit-card calls and calls billed to a third party. Few if any calls of this nature are made anymore in the 21st-century cell-phone age.

Back in 1881, L.L. Keyes, an agent for the American Bell Telephone Company, advertised in The Oneonta Herald that he would provide "telephonic communication" if he could get 25 subscribers. Keyes signed up 26, and work on the system began.

Service began June 9, 1882. The exchange, known as the Oneonta division of the Mohawk Valley Telephone and Telegraph Company, was found on the second floor of the Ford Block on Main Street, where Key Bank is now found on the ground floor. The equipment was a magneto or hand-crank type, and there were two local and one long-distance positions on the switchboard.

Keyes and his wife managed the system, which provided service from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays only. In 1883, the hours were extended to 12:30 a.m. Two years later, all-night service was started. A male operator slept in and was likely awakened by the bell when a call came in. As the A&S Railroad grew, Oneonta became more of a 24-hour village.

The list of subscribers grew steadily, and in 1895 more room was needed, so the operation was moved to the Reynolds Block at the corner of Main and Chestnut streets. That four-story building was demolished in the early 1970s to make way for the present Clinton Plaza. At that time, operators started at $3 a week. Men worked the night shift.

Competition came in with the debut of the Oneonta Telephone Company in 1897. Its office was in the former Westcott Block, today the parking lot between the Otsego County office building and Ruffino Mall.

A merger occurred in 1904, and a new building was erected on Dietz Street, where today’s LAN gaming center is found. This company later merged with the larger New York Telephone Company. A new central office was built and opened on Elm Street.

Operators did it all for callers until the dial system was introduced in Oneonta in the late 1950s.

By 1979, automation had grown in use, which made calls less expensive, both for consumers and in labor costs. The elimination of operators in Oneonta idled 36 permanent employees and 13 temporary workers. Permanent employees were offered jobs in other offices, and 16 accepted. Eight operators retired.

Joan Conway, local representative of the Telephone Traffic Union, said, "What do you think? It’s what they call progress."

Conway had worked 27 years and was too young to retire. She took a job in the Binghamton office.

Live operator voices were in Oneonta for 97 years, but technology changed that. Big changes were still ahead with the major breakup of the phone company during the 1980s.

This weekend: The Otsego County Fair was a New York state first.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.