History of Public Payphones in the U.S.— What You Need to Know
A look back at the history of public payphones in the United States after New York removed its last phone booth
The news that New York City removed its last phone booth on Monday, May 23, 2022, signals the end of the city’s long history of public payphones.
The last phone booth was located between Seventh Avenue and 50th Street in midtown Manhattan. The payphone will now be moved to the “Analog City” exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.
Since 2015, the New York City Council has removed more than 8,000 public payphones. The plan was to replace the old booths with kiosks that would allow New Yorkers to access the Internet, charge their cell phones and make free phone calls.
In this article, I will take you through the history of public telephones in the U.S., explaining how these booths came into existence, experienced their heyday, and slowly declined until they are rarely found in modern times.
The inception of the public payphone
The first coin-based public payphone was set up just four years after Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876.
