Development of US Payphones and Booths
American payphones began with the first coin-operated public phone in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1889, designed by William Gray and rapidly spread across the United States into drugstores, rail stations, and street corners by the early 1900s. Early units were often housed in wooden booths, evolving to glass-and-metal roadside enclosures by the mid-20th century. After Bell System rollouts, outdoor booths became ubiquitous, with over 2 million payphones installed by the 1990s. However, the rise of mobile phones led to sharp declines from the 2000s onward, and traditional booths mostly disappeared, leaving only a small number and some preserved or repurposed installations.
Click here for a list of US phone booths
Click here for AT&T payphones
Click here for Automatic Electric payphones
Click here for the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company
Click here for the Western Electric Payphones
