Telecom-REQUEST@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU (JSol) (06/14/88)
TELECOM Digest Monday, June 13, 1988 7:37PM
Volume 8, Issue 100
Today's Topics:
Chicago prefix names: 3-letter to 2-letter conversion (265 lines)
CO generated noise in data
Question
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From: David_W_Tamkin@cup.portal.com
Subject: Chicago prefix names: 3-letter to 2-letter conversion (265 lines)
Date: Sat Jun 11 21:32:55 1988
This is a list of the prefix names in effect in Chicago, Illinois, as of
September 18, 1948, when dialing was changed from three letters to two letters
plus a digit. It is intended to list only those in use in 1948, not all the
named prefixes that were in use before the switch to numeric prefixes in 1960.
I hope to submit those when I get more information about suburban prefixes.
Four of the names in the first column debuted in the directory that announced
the switch: Museum, Reliance, Uptown, and Wagner. Probably RELiance, UPTown,
and WAGner were introduced as three-letter names between the publication of the
previous directory and the changeover. However, that is unlikely for Museum,
whose assigned digit does not match its third letter, since then customers
assigned MUSeum would be changed to MUseum 4 after only a few months.
Moreover, from then until the conversion to numeric prefixes, every named
prefix installed in the city of Chicago mismatched on the third letter, both
those consisting of additional digits to go with old names and those that had
new names (BRoadway, LUdlow, MItchell, PRescott, and UNderhill).
In the second column are the digits assigned to replace the third letter.
Twenty-four prefixes (including MUseum 4) were assigned a digit that did not
correspond to the third letter; I have indicated them with exclamation points.
Ten others were assigned two digits apiece, generating ten additional prefixes,
but in each of those cases one of the digits matched the third letter of the
name.
The third column shows the exchange that the prefix appears to have served,
based on where it is used today or on what I could gather from directories of
the time. In the cases of BRIargate, INTerocean, and LACkawanna, I know that
wiring was from a suburban CO as indicated. I took the liberty of not
repeating "Chicago-" before the names of the exchanges in this column. (A
district is the area wired from a single CO, but an exchange is rather hard to
define. It's an area that was considered a unity for setting rates and as such
is still valid here for long-distance rates and for local calls placed from
Central Telephone's service area in area code 312. Exchange boundaries are
generally drawn along an amalgam of district boundaries and municipal borders.)
Finally, the fourth column includes what happened to the numerical equivalent
of the original three-letter prefix (and, if the digit did not match the third
letter or if two digits were assigned, the numerical equivalent of the post-
9/18/48 version) if it is not still in use in the same area. Otherwise they
are still there. (For example, COlumbus 1 as 261, both ESTebrook 8 and
EStebrook 9 as 378 and 379, and MANsfield 6 as 626 are all in use in Chicago-
Austin today.)
Prefix new digit(s) Exchange Comments (present tense = 4/23/88)
ABErdeen 4! Stewart 223 is BAldwin 3 in Grays Lake.
ALBany 2 Humboldt
AMBassador 2 Rogers Park
ANDover 3 Franklin
ARDmore 1! Edgewater 273 is BRoadway 3, Chicago-Rogers Park.
ARMitage 6 Humboldt
ATLantic 5 Oakland
AUStin 7 Austin
AVEnue 3 Kildare
BAYport 1! South Chicago 229 serves the Chicago-Portsmouth
exchange/Summit district overlap.
BELmont 5 Humboldt
BERkshire 7 Merrimac
BEVerly 8 Beverly
BIShop 7 Lafayette
BITtersweet 8 Lakeview
BOUlevard 8 Oakland
BRIargate 4 Rogers Park Illinois Bell started to rename it
BRoadway 4 but changed its mind. Until
1986 it was wired from the Evanston CO.
BRUnswick 8 Humboldt
BUCkingham 1! Lakeview 282 is AVenue 2 in Chicago-Kildare.
BUTterfield 8 Hyde Park
CALumet 5 Calumet
CANal 6 Monroe There is now a Chicago-Canal CO. 226
is still CAnal 6 in Chicago-Monroe.
CAPitol 7 Humboldt
CAThedral 8 Franklin? CA 8-8000 was the time recording, which
actually reached DEArborn 2-8000. In
the mid-1970's the number for time was
changed to 936-3636 and around 1981 to
976-1616. 228 is in Elk Grove Village.
CEDarcrest 3 Beverly The new name BEverly 3 was phased in
during 1958 and 1959.
CENtral 6 Franklin
CHEsapeake 3 Monroe
CLIffside 4 Lafayette
COLumbus 1! Austin 265 is in Chicago-Kedzie.
COMmodore 4! Pullman 266 is in Chicago-Superior.
CORnelia 7 Irving
CRAwford 7! Lawndale 272 is CRestwood 2 in Northbrook.
DANube 6 Calumet
DEArborn 2 Franklin
DELaware 7! Superior 335 is DEwey 5 in Hazel Crest (Homewood
district/Harvey exchange overlap).
DICkens 2 Humboldt
DIVersey 8 Lakeview
DORchester 3! Hyde Park 367 is in Libertyville, where 362 is
EMpire 2.
DRExel 3 Oakland
EAStgate 7 Lakeview
EDGewater 4 Edgewater
ENGlewood 4 Stewart? It served the northern tip of what is
now the Chicago-Stewart district and
was dissolved in 1959. 364 now serves
Elk Grove Village.
ESSex 5! South Chicago 377 is in St. Charles.
ESTebrook 8&9! Austin
EVErglade 4! Humboldt 383 is EUclid 3 in Oak Park.
FAIrfax 4 Hyde Park
FINancial 6 Franklin
FIRe 7 Wabash? Its only number was FIre 7-1313 for
fire emergencies. After the change to
911 it became a Chicago-Wabash prefix.
FRAnklin 2 Franklin
FROntier 4!&6 Lafayette FRontier 4 was later dissolved. 374
is ESsex 4 in Chicago-South Chicago.
376 is FRontier 6 in Chicago-Lafayette.
GRAceland 2&7! Lakeview
GROvehill 6 Prospect
HARrison 7 Wabash
HAYmarket 1! Monroe 429 is in Tinley Park.
HEMlock 6 Prospect
HILltop 5 Beverly
HOLlycourt 5 Rogers Park
HUDson 3 Stewart
HUMboldt 6&9! Humboldt
HYDe Park 3 Hyde Park
INDependence 3 Irving
INTerocean 8 Pullman It was wired from the Blue Island CO
until about 1953.
IRVing 8 Irving
JUNiper 8! Irving 586 is LUdlow 6 in the Summit district/
Chicago-Portsmouth exchange overlap.
KEDzie 3 Kedzie The name was phased into KEystone 3
in 1959-62. The district and exchange
are still named Chicago-Kedzie.
KENwood 6&8! Oakland
KEYstone 9 Irving
KILdare 5 Kildare
LACkawanna / TUxedo 9 Merrimac It served the River Grove district/
| NAtional 2 Chicago-Merrimac exchange overlap and
at first| MErrimac 7 was canceled with the 1948 changeover.
\BErkshire 7 Regular Chicago-Merrimac numbers were
substituted at first but later were
later NAtional 5 restricted to the Chicago-Merrimac
district proper and NAtional 5 put into
currently 589 and 625 service here. 522 is now LAwndale 2
(which name was part way phased into
LAfayette 2 when numeric prefixes came
in around 1960) in Chicago-Lawndale.
LAFayette 3 Lafayette
LAKeview 5 Lakeview
LAWndale 1! Lawndale 529 is now LAwrence 9 in Roselle. The
name LAwndale 1 was being phased into
LAfayette 1 when numeric prefixes
superseded names in 1960. The district
is still named Chicago-Lawndale.
LINcoln 9! Lakeview 546 is KImball 6 in Round Lake.
LIVingston 8 Oakland
LONgbeach 1! Edgewater 566 is LOcust 6 in Mundelein.
MANsfield 6 Austin
MERrimac 7 Merrimac
MIChigan 2 Superior
MIDway 3 Hyde Park
MOHawk 4 Superior
MONroe 6 Monroe
MULberry 5 Kildare
MUSeum? 4! Hyde Park 687 serves the Blue Island exchange/
Tinley Park district overlap. However,
this one likely started as MUseum 4.
NATional 2! Merrimac 628 serves Addison (Elmhurst exchange/
Lombard district overlap).
NEVada 2!&8 Kedzie 632 is in Arlington Heights. NEvada 8
still serves Chicago-Kedzie as 638.
NEWcastle 1! Newcastle 639 is MErcury 9 in Cary.
NORmal / 2!& Stewart? \ NOrmal 2, with ENglewood 4 and
\ 7 Hyde Park / WEntworth 6, served Chicago-Stewart's
north tip, from 1948-55. 662 is now
Waukegan's ONtario 2. 667 is still in
Chicago-Hyde Park as NOrmal 7.
OAKland 4! Oakland 625 is now NAtional 5 where LACkawanna
had been used, in the Chicago-Merrimac
exchange/River Grove district overlap.
OFFicial 3 Franklin OFficial 3-9100 was Illinois Bell's
business office. The prefix was used
solely for their departments. 633 now
serves Chicago-Monroe.
PALisade 5 Kildare
PENsacola 6 Kildare
PLAza 2 Hyde Park
POLice 5 Wabash? The only number was POlice 5-1313 for
police emergency. After 911 came in,
765 became the Chicago-Wabash prefix
for Chicago's main post office.
PORtsmouth 7 Portsmouth
PROspect 6 Prospect
PULlman 5 Pullman
RADcliffe 3 Stewart
RANdolph 6 Franklin
RAVenswood 8 Edgewater
REGent 4 South Chicago
RELiance 5 Portsmouth It may have started as REliance 5.
REPublic 7 Prospect
ROCkwell 2 Lawndale
RODney 3 Newcastle
ROGers Park 1!&4 Rogers Park
SACramento 2 Kedzie
SAGinaw 1! South Chicago 724 is PArk 4 in Glenview.
SEEley 3&8! Monroe
SHEldrake 3 Rogers Park
SOUth Chicago 8 South Chicago \ That's no typo: these two conflicted.
SOUth Shore 8 Hyde Park / SOuth Shore 8 was phased out by the
mid-1960's. 768 phones today are in
the Chicago-South Chicago exchange.
SPAulding 2 Humboldt
SPRing 7 Kildare
STAte 1!&2 Franklin
STEwart 3 Stewart
SUNnyside 4! Edgewater 786 serves Chicago-Wabash.
SUPerior 7 Superior
TAYlor 9 Monroe
TRIangle 4 Stewart
TUXedo 9 Merrimac
UPTown 8 Edgewater It may have started as UPtown 8.
VAN Buren 6 Kedzie
VICtory 2 Calumet
VINcennes 6 Stewart
VIRginia 7 Lafayette
WABash 2 Wabash
WAGner 4 Oakland It may have started as WAgner 4.
WALbrook 5 Prospect
WATerfall 8 Pullman
WEAther 4! Wabash? WEAther 1212, later WEather 4-1212
(actually 934 and any four digits), was
the weather recording. It was changed
to 936-1212 in the early 1970's and to
976-1212 in 1981. 932 serves Lombard
now, and 934 serves Palatine.
WEBster 9! Wabash As above, 932 serves Lombard.
WELlington 5 Lakeview
WENtworth 6 Stewart? It served the northern tip of what is
now the Chicago-Stewart district and
was dissolved in 1958 or 1959. During
the 1970's, 936-1212 was the weather
recording and 936-3636 the time. 936
now serves Chicago-Franklin.
WHItehall 4 Superior
YARds 7 Lafayette
At the time, a few suburbs had named prefixes, which could not, however, be
dialed from Chicago phones as far as I know: one had to request connection
through the appropriate operator. They were as follows, with the digits they
later acquired:
Berwyn GUnderson (4), STanley (8)
Calumet City TOrrence (2, for a while TOrrence 6 in Burnham)
Cicero OLympic (2 and 6), TOwnhall (3)
Evanston DAVis (8), GReenleaf (5), UNIversity (4,later also 9)
Forest Park FOrest (6, absorbing River Forest's FOrest 9 in 1976-77)
Hammond, Indiana Russell and Sheffield (changed to WEstmore 1, 2, and 3)
Lincolnwood Towers (integrated into Skokie's ORchard 3, 4, and 5)
Oak Park EUclid (3, later also 6), VIllage (8)
River Forest Forest (9, integrated into FOrest 6 in 1976-77)
Waukegan MAjestic (3), ONtario (2)
David_W_Tamkin@cup.portal.com || sun!portal!cup.portal.com!david_w_tamkin
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Date: 13 JUN 88 12:10-
From: MLS9597%RITVAX.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: CO generated noise in data
Here is a strange problem that I am having with my local telco: Rochester
Telephone Company:
Most of the time that I use my data line I get a burst of a few garbage
characters every fifteen minutes in cycles that are approximately 3,18,33
and 48 minutes after the hour.
After three months of pain, the telco has narrowed the problem down, they
think, to the remote optically linked CO that services my part of the exchange.
As best they can tell, the switch does some internal report generation every
fifteen minutes or so and somehow fouls up my line. They have gone back
to AT&T ( I think it is a 5ESS but I am not sure) via a group called PECK
to look into the problem.
Has anyone else had anything similar to this where the switch causes periodic
or occassional noise in a digital system CO?
Can anyone tell me anything about the organization with the initials PECK?
Mike Slade
( slade.wbst@xerox.com or mls9597@ritxvaxa.bitnet)
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Date: Mon, 13 Jun 88 16:39 EST
From: Howie Ducat <hducat%BKLYN.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Question
Someone gave me this wonderful free Speakerphone from Northern Telecomm.
It has a 6-line modular plug, not a four. Is there any way for me to make it
work?
Howie Ducat
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End of TELECOM Digest
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