The sounds of phones from the 20th century filled the museum of Juneau-Douglas on a Friday evening. Ten year old Otis Beard studied them closely while they called.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”There’s an iron ball that’s clanking from one extremely quickly,” he said. “It is moving at a fast speed. It’s really cool looking .”
Jim Simard, the former head librarian of the library’s Alaska State Library’s historic collections, has said he made use of diagrams he pasted onto the phones to aid in getting the phones back to ringing.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It’s an exquisite gadget,” he said. “They’ve been fitted with a magneto that produces 60-80 Volts .”
Director of the Museum Beth Weigel said the exhibit offers a chance to display the phones, while Juneauites are contemplating how they will develop Telephone Hill. Telephone Hill neighborhood, which may be undergoing redevelopment, and even being displaced by its historical homes.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”We have these old phones in our collection of educational phones We’re always amazed by the amount of stuff we have that people are able to manage,” she said. “I believe there’s lots of curiosity about Telephone Hill right now .”
Telephone Hill was home to the first Alaskan commercial telephone company. Edward Webster and his family operated the business out of their home there.
The exhibit also contains three images of the neighborhood that were taken 50 years from each other. Juneau local Skip Gray snapped two of them in the years 1973 and 2022. He grew up on Telephone Hill, and he’s been spending the past year and a half looking through his photos of the area as the city considers a plan to redevelop the area.
When you look at the pictures on the wall Juneau residents Katie Henry says it’s important to preserve the green space at Telephone Hill.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I believe that the hill is a great relief from the urban sprawl that is encroaching on city’s downtown.” the mayor said. “The greenery is vital. It’s a part of the reason it feel acceptable to be downtown. .”
State of Alaska changed the ownership for Telephone Hill to the City and Borough of Juneau last year. In October, architects presented four ideas for redevelopment. One idea is to build new housing within existing properties. Others might tear down the existing homes and construct new homes or apartments.
Peter Metcalfe lived on Telephone Hill in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He was open to the city building new homes, however, he hopes that they’ll keep the lush greenery that’s there.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I’d prefer that they think about some new housing options, maybe but office buildings or apartment structures? I’m not going to argue,” he said. “It’s an one of few parks that have open space. Is New York’s city New York regret Central Park ?”
Stuart Sliter, whose grandmother was a switchboard operator in Douglas, told the Observer that this exhibit brought to mind plenty of childhood memories.
“When you examine the directories from the past that they’ve got here to us to peruse I see that I was able to meet almost everyone from the Douglas section. It was a tiny town back then,” she said.
Sliter recalls drinking afternoon tea in the Webster House. She’s not sure what the city, or the current tenants could pay to maintain all the homes located on Telephone Hill.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I I can’t believe that Juneau’s City and Borough of Juneau will be able to keep it and preserve it for display purposes,” she said. “And those who live there might not be able to purchase it today’s cost. It’s an excellent property.”
The project’s leaders will present updates about Telephone Hill to the Assembly at the end of this month. The update will include the results of an historic site study as well as an open survey. Tuesday, January. 9 is the final day to complete the form.
The exhibit at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum is open until November.
