Heritage

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The Walker House Heritage Centre will host an exhibit this summer, commemorating the 100-year history of Bruce Telecom, formerly the Bruce Municipal Telephone System.

It was February, 1910, when a small gathering of Bruce Township farmers met for an inaugural meeting to lobby Bruce Township council to establish telephone service in the municipality. 

The first telephone call on this new service was made a year later with switchboards installed in Underwood and Tiverton. 

From this humble beginning, the Bruce Municipal Telephone System (BMTS) has grown into a world-class telecommunication service, offering local and long-distance telephone, wireless telephone, high-speed DSL Internet service, business communication solutions and digital TV.

 The 100-year history of Bruce Telecom parallels the story of the rapid technological advances in communications in Canada. 

In today’s Internet and digital world, younger visitors to the Walker House exhibit will likely be surprised to learn it was not that long ago that up to 10 families would share the same telephone line, that individual homes were only to answer their own distinctive ring, and that all calls were handled by an operator sitting at a switchboard.

Renee Renaud (L) Brenda Beckingham and Kerri Brooks dress in period costume to kick off the Bruce Telecom 100th anniversary celebration

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Saturday, March 12, 2011