Telephone Exchange Names in Alexandria, Northern Virginia

In the early days of telephone usage, central offices were built to serve subscribers within a small local area.  Telephone exchanges were groupings of numbers assigned to a central office for switching.  These telephone exchanges were given names that often identified the geographic area to which they were assigned.  Some early exchange names in Alexandria, Virginia were:  Alexandria, Temple and Overlook.  Within these exchanges, each subscriber line had a set of numbers associated with it.  Depending on the local population, central offices needed 4 or 5 digits to keep the phone numbers unique within the exchange.

Initially subscribers were connected within and between these offices by operators using plug boards and cords. Automated switching was introduced as the phone system grew. In 1917 AT&T devised a system where the letters representing the exchange names could be dialed prior to the unique subscriber numbers.  They mapped letters to numbers on the dial in a fashion that we sometimes use today in navigating voicemail systems.

In Alexandria in the 1950’s, four digits were used for each phone number, allowing up to 10,000 subscribers per exchange.  Phone numbers in Hill’s Alexandria City Directory for that year are written in a 2 letter-4 number (2L-4N) scheme with the two letters representing the exchange name: ALexandria (25), OVerlook (68) and TEmple (83).  Newspaper advertisements, postcards, and matchbooks are excellent places to view the old exchange names.

In 1951, AT & T began implementing the North American Numbering Plan which would move toward standardized phone numbers and eventually area codes. As a result, the United States, Canada and many Caribbean Countries moved to a 2L-5N combination. Northern Virginia was no exception. New exchanges were added in Alexandria, this time with a digit tacked on to the exchange name prefix, for example, KIng 9 (549), SOuth 5 (765), SOuth 8 (768). Some longtime local businesses may have moved exchanges over the years, but still retain their original 4-digit suffixes (Kesterson, Fannon, the Virginia Lodge and Demaine Funeral Home are examples). By the 1960’s new exchanges without names were added, and the phone book included instructions on how to dial using both the 2L-5N scheme and the new All Number Calling (ANC).   A list of Northern Virginia exchange names, and new exchanges without names can be seen in the Virginia Section of the Washington Metropolitan Area phone book from 1963-64.

Before time and weather were delivered directly to cell phones and other devices in our homes, telephone users could dial 844-1212 for time and 963-1212 for weather for immediate information in nearly every area code in the country. It might surprise some to learn that those numbers also came out of named exchanges: TIme 4-1212 and WEather 6-1212. Fictional phone numbers on movies and television shows have a long history as well. The 555 prefix was initially set aside for phone company usage, but a range of numbers in the KLondike 5 exchange were used exclusively for entertainment purposes. Rebels including Glenn Miller, the Partridge Family and Tommy Tutone ignored the reserved numbers , belting out actual phone numbers. (PEnnsylvania 6-5000, ECho Valley 2-6809, and 867-5309 respectively).

If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can still use the exchange name system. If your exchange name isn’t on the list you can make up your own.  Put it on your business card or e-mail signature block. Don’t forget to capitalize the letters you want dialed.  For example, the Mount Vernon Estate has been using the unnamed 780 exchange since at least the early 60’s. If you’d like to reach them, you can dial (703) QUarter-man 0-2000.

A special thank you goes out to phonebook-finder Michele Bernocco, a Librarian in Fairfax County Public Library’s outstanding Virginia Room!