Old Phone Numbers

**jerrytimes** · May-06-12, 11:50 PM

So I'm trying to find out what my Great Grandparents phone number was when they lived in Detroit. They lived at 12340 Westphalia from the early 50's until the early 70's. I don't have any family members that remember it [[there are a few of them still alive) and we don't have any old phone books. I figured, why not ask everyone here if they know how to find out this info. Thanks for any help.

**Hermod** · May-07-12, 04:11 AM

Sometime in the early 50s, all of the Detroit phone numbers changed from six-digit to seven digit. We went from PRospect 3324 to LAkeview 7-3324.

**MidTownMs** · May-07-12, 06:53 AM

Many of the Detroit City Directories are online. If you're in Detroit go to the Burton Historical Library located on the first floor of the main library on Woodward. All of the directories are located in the back of the library by the windows on the right side of the room. They are shelved in order by year. There you will find city directories dating back to 1835 or 1836. Each directory is cross-indexed by address and name. Each entry contains the name, address, occupation, and phone number of the person listed. I am sure you will find what you are looking for. If like me, you don't live in Detroit, look online under Detroit City Directories....Good Luck

**Gannon** · May-07-12, 07:41 AM

What a great address!

Why can I remember my first phone number?!

Good luck...

**MikeM** · May-07-12, 08:32 AM

What was their last name?

**Pontiac6000** · May-07-12, 12:04 PM

We lived a couple of miles from the Highland Park tower, and even in the early '70s, many numbers were still using or given exchanges. Ours [[491-) covered most of the Meyers Grove area, a vast majority of those numbers residential north of Lyndon, and industrial closer to Grand River. But we never had an alphanumeric code prefix. Why is that? Had the company phased it out by then, or was this a 'new' number without it?

**catch22** · May-07-12, 12:43 PM

I was an installer for Michigan Bell in the 1970s, working this area. 313-491 was an expansion prefix for the Hogarth/Webster central office, installed sometime in the late 60s / early 70s. It never had an alphanumeric prefix to my knowledge. It worked on the same switching machine [[1A ESS) as 313-933 [[WEbster 3).