Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co. - 1939 dated $1,000 New York Utility Bond

$1,000 3% Telephone and Telegraph Bond. Male and female figures and old style table telephone. Nice vignette printed by American Bank Note Co. Scarce! Great!

Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, a prominent Bell Operating Company (BOC), served the southeastern United States for over a century. Founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1879, it initially operated as the Atlanta Telephonic Exchange before adopting its current name in 1882. Throughout its history, the company’s reach expanded significantly, eventually providing service to customers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. However, in 1968, a substantial portion of its territory was split off to form South Central Bell, which served Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. As a BOC under the original AT&T, Southern Bell played a crucial role in the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure, providing local service throughout its designated region.

The dissolution of the old Bell System brought about significant changes for Southern Bell. The 1984 breakup of AT&T marked the beginning of this transformation. Southern Bell became a subsidiary of the newly formed BellSouth Corporation, which was established to manage both Southern Bell and South Central Bell. In 1992, the iconic Southern Bell and South Central Bell names were retired when the two companies were consolidated into a single entity, BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. This consolidation was followed by the acquisition of BellSouth by the “new” AT&T (formerly SBC Communications) in 2006. This acquisition absorbed BellSouth’s operations into AT&T’s larger network, completing a remarkable journey for the company that started as a local exchange in Atlanta.