Depot Museum Exhibits
The Telephone Switchboard
The two-operator switchboard United Telephone used until 1985 — the last of its kind in Florida, connecting eight towns across the Heartland.
A two-operator telephone switchboard, used by United Telephone of Avon Park until 1985.
Before direct long-distance dialing, operators in Avon Park handled the calls for Okeechobee, Wauchula, Bowling Green, Avon Park, Sebring, Lake Placid, Arcadia and Zolfo Springs. Avon Park was the last exchange in the state to use a switchboard of this type.
The operators knew the town. They knew who was travelling, who had taken ill, and where the doctor could be reached at short notice. When United Telephone moved to computers it moved the whole operation out of Avon Park to Altamonte Springs, and the switchboard that had run around the clock became history.
It is here at the Depot Museum to be looked at and remembered — and visitors are welcome to sit at the operator’s position and see how the cords and jacks worked.