The Hemlock Exchange building is at 1806 East First Street. In 1918 Northwestern Telephone Exchange Company purchased the plant of Duluth and Zenith Companies. There was a name change to Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in 1921. The building still stands.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The office of the Rochester Telephone Company (organized in 1895) was located over Farm's Grocery Store on Zumbro Street West (now 2nd Street SW). ; The first telephone service for general use had 75 subscribers. This interior view shows women telephone operators working at the manual switch board (left to right): Lydia Witteau, Katherine Casey, Frances Lund, Carrie Hanson, Ophelia Delaney, Susie Arndt, Mabel Bascomb, Hilda Hanson.
