Florida’s first telephone exchange opened on May 24, 1880 in Jacksonville.
Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company opened with thirty-four subscribers. Popularity for the new device slowly grew, and by 1897 the first long distance line from Jacksonville to Georgia was established, at a rate of 85 cents for three minutes. Southern Bell bought out most of the small regional lines in Florida, and by 1955 they had established over a million lines statewide.
~ Florida Historical Society
