1906 was an exciting year in Ypsilanti. The city council debated erecting a power plant for municipal lighting. The Detroit News lambasted the town for allowing the Lewis "Horse Exchange," a Depot Town pool room and gambling spot, to remain open. And, announced the February 8 Ypsilanti Daily Press, of the roughly 8,000 residents, 325 were connected to telephone service (4% of all residents).As a bonus, when you lifted the earpiece and were connected to the operator, Central could tell you if the MCRR trains were on time or running late. "Anyone calling up will be informed by the "hello" girl without a second's loss of time," reported the paper. The phone service was expanding rapidly; of the 325 subscribers, 75 had signed up just the month before.
New subscribers included the downtown Davis and Kishlar dry goods store, Michigan Avenue dressmaker C. A. Klavitter, and J. A. Burtis's barber shop at 8 North Huron.
Dusty D tried but failed to get a good understanding of the color code in the list, consisting of black, blue, red, and white numbers. I could take a stab and say these are 4 separate systems, divided up so as to optimize the # of phone numbers, but that would just be talking out of my hat; I have no idea what those colors mean, but hope to learn.
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