Manual telephone systems came in two broad types: The original one was known as "local battery" in which each subscriber's phone had its own talk supply battery and a magneto (generator) crank to ring the operator. These phones had the advantage of simpler network construction and good range over long loops that may be of poor quality. They were common in private railroad use through the 1970s. The had the disadvantage in that phones had to be periodically serviced to replace the batteries and subscribers would forget to 'ring off' at the end of the call.
The newer type, and the system in use today, is known as "common battery". The subscriber's phone had no power of its own, rather the central office supplied it. When a phone went off hook, this was detected by a central office relay and alerted an operator (or provided a dial tone).
The last Bell System manual switchboard (Common battery) was on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California. It was replaced by a modular ESS (#2 I believe, for smaller offices). I believe this was around 1980, which was surprisingly late.
But I was wondering if anyone knew where the last Local Battery Bell System (not independent or private) was located. Anyone have any idea?
Also, any stories about manual central offices still in service after
1960 would be appreciated. It took a long time to convert all central offices, two major suburban Phila offices weren't converted until 1962.