WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S.
Census Bureau:
FIRST TELEPHONE DIRECTORY
Profile America — Tuesday, February 21st. In the
early days of the telephone, knowing who had one and what the
number was quickly became a problem. The first telephone directory
in the U.S. was published on this date in 1878 in New Haven, Connecticut. It wasn't a big list —
there were only 50 subscribers. A little later, a directory also
came out in San Francisco, with
about 170 names. Today, of America's 118 million housing units
occupied by owners or renters, over 115 million, or nearly 98
percent, have cellular or landline telephone service. Thirteen
firms issue directories for the nation's personal and business
phone numbers, which in 2010 already totaled more than 1.4 billion.
Manufacturing telephones and associated equipment is a $7.6 billion a year domestic business. Profile
America is in its 20th year as a public service of the U.S.
Census Bureau.
Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 1818
San Francisco directory/accessed
12/2/2016: http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/hgtel.htm
Households and phone service:
https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/DP04
Telephone directory publishing/accessed 12/2/2016:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Telephone_directory_publishing_companies_of_the_United_States
Phone numbers/p. 12, t. 1/accessed 12/2/2016:
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-319997A1.pdf
Manufacturing/Annual Survey of Manufacturers/NAICS 334210:
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ASM/2014/31VS101//prodsvc~334210
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and
Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn
from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or
narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census
Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments,
ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for
"Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu).
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-february-21-first-telephone-directory-300407885.html
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau