I received an e-mail recently inquiring about the old
> exchange names in London, and thought a general posting
> might be of interest.
[snip]
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My thanks to Paul for this
> special report which will be specifically filed in the
> Archives history area. I should point out that Chicago,
> Illinois also used the 3L-4D method of numbering until
> about 1950 when it changed to 2L-5D for about ten years
> before going entirely 7-D. Thanks again, Paul. PAT]
Back in the 60s I lived in Evanston and worked in Chicago. Even at that late date I occasionally noticed 3L+4D numbers on old signs or in publications.
- UNIversity, in Evanston, for Northwestern University.
- GREenleaf, in Evanston, for Greenleaf Street.
- BEVerly, in Chicago, for the local neighborhood.
- MIDway, in Chicago, for Midway Plaisance, a block-wide parkway running between Washington Park and Jackson Park. During the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 it had been "the Midway". It splits the University of Chicago campus in half. The University's main number would have been MIDway 0800.
In most cases the 3L code matched the new 2L+1N code, but there were a few exceptions. In Evanston, what had been GREenleaf became GRreenleaf 5.
Neal McLain