Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building
National Register of Historic Places

Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building

Washington, District of Columbia County, District of Columbia
Listed
June 12, 1988
Type
Building
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
88000652

About this property

The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building is a historic structure located in Downtown Washington, D.C. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. As the number of businesses in Washington increasingly relied on telephone service, Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company built this building as its new main exchange. Designed by architect Leon Eidlitz, it was the first of a complex of buildings the company would construct at this site. The building houses what was considered to be the largest telephone switchboard at the time. It began operations in September 1904 and served 6,000 at the beginning. The new system eliminated the multiple rings on party lines and the need for an operator to interrupt the line to determine whether a subscriber had completed a call or wanted to receive calls. Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company Warehouse and Repair Facility Media related to Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building at Wikimedia Commons

Location

722 Twelfth St., NW
Washington, District of Columbia County, District of Columbia
38.89896, -77.02804

Categories

ARCHITECTURECOMMUNICATIONS
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company Building
Industrial
0 mi
Masonic Temple
Modern
0.1 mi
McLachlen Building
Civil War
0.1 mi
Church of the Epiphany
Pre Contact
0.1 mi
Brownley Confectionary Building
Industrial
0.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building listed on the National Register?

Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 12, 1988.

What type of historic resource is Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building?

Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building?

The period of significance for Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building is recorded as the civil_war era.

Can I research the history near Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Old Main Building?

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