While most people have never heard of Farmers and Traders Telephone Company, it was the first telephone company to serve Plainsboro, West Windsor, and surrounding areas. John Van Buren Wicoff, then a student at Princeton College, initiated the idea. Then Henry Jeffers of Walker-Gordon consulted with Walter S. Grover, H.N. Scott, and Sylvanus Grover and they agreed that Hightstown, Cranbury, and Plainsboro should be served.
In 1899. Wicoff, Jeffers, and E.L. Mount signed an agreement with the company taking on the responsibility for building the lines and switchboard with the telephone company providing the actual service. The company was later sold to Bell Telephone for $195,000 in 1930.
John Grover, a telephone history buff based in East Windsor, presents a talk on the telephone system on Saturday, October 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Plainsboro Municipal Building. His presentation will include an antique telephone demonstration featuring equipment from 1900 to 1930 from the collection of Steve Adamec of East Windsor. The exhibit set up at the talk will be on display at the Plainsboro Museum through March.
The original switchboard, located in an old farmhouse at 1 Maple Avenue, was run by former Plainsboro resident, Elizabeth Burn, the telephone operator for 25 years. Grover has traced all previous owners of the still-standing house, which was built around 1820.
Also at the October 7 meeting Plainsboro resident Bill Hart will have a book signing for his new book, “Images of America: East Orange” at the event. His other books include “East Orange in Vintage Postcards” and “Images of America: Plainsboro.”
To see these, and other historical sites within the town, consider taking the trolley tour on Sunday, October 22. Tours leaving the Municipal complex at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. will be led by a local historian who will talk about places of events of Plainsboro from the early settlers to the present day. Find out how Plainsboro got its name, the sites of early schools and businesses, where Civil War veterans and Elsie the Cow are buried, and the site of a 20th century nuclear reactor. The routes were mapped out by longtime Plainsboro residents Bob Yuell, Matt Haffenmaier, Rudy Wellnitz, and Ed Yates.
Seating is limited and advanced tickets are available at the recreation office for $5 per person. Buy four tickets and get one free. Call 609-799-0909, ext. 331 for information.
On October 22, Plainsboro Museum will be open from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Exhibits feature Elsie the Cow, Princeton Nurseries, clothing from the 1920s, American Indian arrowheads and other early Plainsboro history, farms, and transportation. St. Joseph’s Seminary’s Miraculous Medal Chapel, an example of Gothic architecture, will be open from 1 to 4 p.m.
Farmers and Traders Telephone Company, Plainsboro Historical Society, Plainsboro Municipal Building, 609-799-9040. www.plainsborohistory.com. Saturday, October 7, 7:30 p.m.
Plainsboro Trolley Tours, Municipal Complex Plaza, 641 Plainsboro Road, 609-799-0909 ext. 552. www.plainsboronj.com. Register. $5. Sunday, October 22, 1, and 2 and 3 p.m.
