San Marcos Telephone Company
138 W. San Antonio St., San Marcos, TXIn these days of telecommunication giants, the independent small-town telephone company is a rarity. Therefore, the San Marcos Telephone Company building is significant not only for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture but also for its position as the previous home of one of the largest locally owned communications companies in Texas. Research has failed to reveal a comparable firm.
The San Marcos Telephone Company opened for business in March 1899, with 61 subscribers, The founder was R.T. Durrett. Sam R. Kone was the first businessman to have phone service between his home and workplace. When Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph opened a competing exchange in 1903, Durrett sold his company to Frank C. Smith. Both companies operated until 1919 when the local firm absorbed Southwestern's (Southwestern Bell since 1910) subscribers.
Emphasizing the company's local connections was a common advertising theme. The 1910 directory asked customers to "Consider where your money goes. Will it be spent in San Marcos, so that you may see it again, or will it go to the Northern capitalists?" The advertisement must have worked, because by 1928 the telephone business was so active that a new building was necessary to replace the temporary quarters. A two-story Spanish Colonial design was chosen under the leadership of then-president, Walter Donalson. The company remained in the building until November 5, 1955. H.Y. Price had bought the company in 1949. It continues to serve the community with specialized features unavailable from Bell Telephone.
Bibliography
Annual Edition, 1981-82.
San Marcos Telphone Company Directory, 1910.
San Marcos Daily Record, November 18, 1979.
Interview with H.Y. Price, Jr., May 27, 1982.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.