The Telephone Building

Written By Matt Fetterly

On January 24, 1929, the Columbia Missourian announced the construction of a new building for the Columbia Telephone Company at the northwest corner of 7th and Cherry streets. The telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and the first one in Columbia was installed by University of Missouri Professor of Physics Benjamin E. Thomas in the 1880s or 1890s. It ran from from Boone County National Bank at Broadway and 8th Streets to the home of I.O Hockaday at University and College Avenue. By 1896 there was a small “telephone exchange” of less than 100 telephones. J.A Hudson, who had been in the newspaper business, bought the exchange in 1897. As president and general manger of the Columbia Telephone Company he would grow the business to about 2,000 telephones by 1913. Hudson was president of the first telephone association in Missouri and active in the national organization of telephone businesses.

In 1929 the Columbia Telephone Company built a new headquarters building at 7th and Cherry streets, they had previously been located at 14 South 9th Street, in the original Columbia Telephone Building (constructed circa 1907). The new headquarters building was designed by architect Fred D. Jacobs with gold brick in a Beaux-Arts style. The Columbia Telephone Building was named one of Columbia’s most notable properties in 2012 by the Historic Preservation Commission. Local architectural historian Deb Sheals described it for the commission:

“The facade of this early office building features refined Beaux Arts styling and an impressive collection of glazed terra cotta ornamentation. Built in 1929 for the Columbia Telephone Company, and now owned by CenturyLink, the building has housed telephone company operations for more than eight decades.

The original building, at 15 S. Seventh St., features a wide cornice band that reads: "19 TELEPHONE BUILDING 29." That cornice, like most of the architectural detailing, is constructed of glazed terra cotta. The original architectural drawings for the building show that the architect, Fred D. Jacobs of Kansas City, took great care with the design of those features. The gold brick walls of the building are accented with quoins, cornices and a front door surround that are glazed to look like limestone, and the tall foundation is sheathed with gray blocks that emulate granite.

The facade also features distinctive ornamental panels and keystones that have colored glazes, which are much more unusual for a building this age; only one other historic building in downtown Columbia has polychromatic terra cotta ornament, the Art Deco style building at 812 E. Broadway. The swag panels between the first and second floor windows of the facade are particularly noteworthy.

The building was constructed for the Columbia Telephone Company, which had been located in offices at 14 South Ninth St. It soon after became known as the Missouri Telephone Company, and eventually part of GTE. As the Columbia branch of the company grew, so did their building. It was extended rearward in the ealry 1950s, and large additions were made to the south in the 1960s. A final tower addition on the west end of the block was completed in 1972. Most of the exterior detailing of the original structure were maintained throughout that building campaign, and the 1920s facade today looks much as it did when it was new.”

The Telephone Building

Taken by Matt Fetterly on January 23, 2023

Inspired by the preservation of historic buildings on Columbia’s Most Notable Properties List, our group, CoMo Preservation, hopes to help homeowners, landlords, and institutions prevent the destruction of historic architecture. Original period styles might be replicated, but will forever lack the social history of authentic structures. The preservation of historic buildings is necessary for Columbia’s residents, students, and visitors to achieve a sense of place and, it follows, for our city’s continued economic success. If you want to join us in our mission sign up for our mailing list to receive news and updates.

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Matt Fetterly

Matt was born in Columbia, Missouri and is an 8th generation Boone Countian. He is an alumni of Hickman High School and the University of Missouri. Since 2011 he has worked for Shakespeares Pizza, as a truck driver and distribution manager, visiting and selling locally produced frozen pizza in all 115 Missouri counties, as well as Kansas, Illinois, and Nebraska. He is also a professional percussionist, working at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre since 2012, and has performed with the Maples Repertory Theatre, Central Methodist Theater, University of Missouri Theater, Columbia Entertainment Company, Talking Horse Productions, Maplewood Barn Theater, Columbia Community Band, Columbia Jazz Orchestra, Columbia Civic Orchestra, Columbia Chorale, The Tipper Gores, Columbia Handbell Ensemble, and the 9th Street Philharmonic. A lifelong love of Columbia inspired him to preserve a growing collection of over 170 books about Columbia and Boone County. A related project is preserving and cataloguing books and ephemera manufactured by the E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, once Columbia’s largest business. He specializes in local natural history, black history, indigenous history, lgbtq+ history, and cultural history more generally (particularly architecture, music, art, theater, and cemeteries). When not playing music or writing about local history, he enjoys hiking, caving, camping, and floating, in the forest and prairies of Mid-Missouri.

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