One of Alberta's first towns to have telephone service, Wetaskiwin began to install telephones and lines in, or shortly after, 1903. This building seems to have been built in 1915 to house Wetaskiwin's telephone exchange. In 1958 the system was absorbed into the Alberta Government Telephones system and this building was no longer needed.
Since that time it has housed many businesses over the years, including a ballet school and a café. In the year 2000, this historic building became the home of
Alberta Government Telephones
Welcome to what began in 1915 as Alberta Government Telephones or AGT. All the bricks in this building, with the exception of the front face, were made by the Wetaskiwin Brick Company and were considered to be the best colored common brick in Alberta.
Wetaskiwin's history of telecommunication extends back to April 1, 1903 when the Wetaskiwin council declared itself in favor of a municipal telephone system. Rates were to be set at $15.00 a year for businesses and $10.00 a year for homes. However, the Bell Telephone Company had received a Dominion Charter in 1880 to establish telephone networks throughout Canada, so they built their own lines, even though Wetaskiwin preferred its own system. Wetaskiwin's first MLA, A.S. Rosenroll, went to the Capital in 1906 and spoke eloquently of how Bell had invaded the town and crushed a municipal enterprise. It is not known how much that speech helped, but the provincial government soon passed an act to give municipalities the power to build and operate local telephone lines. Wetaskiwin had fought for their telephone lines and they had won.
By the mid 1940s, Wetaskiwin's telephone system was becoming overloaded and there was a long waiting list of people who wanted telephones. In 1953, more than 150 people who wanted telephones were told they would have to wait until facilities were improved in order to accommodate the new lines. Finally, at midnight on August 9, 1958, the long wait for telephones was over. With a new building containing the most up-to-date equipment, AGT soon closed down its switchboards in Wetaskiwin, and the friendly, well-informed operators who had manned the switchboards were replaced by dial phones.
From the plaque at the building