New Beginnings
The brick building that now houses Ridgeway Technical Services was originally built in 1910 to service as a central telephone office for the community of Ridgeway. It was a 30′ x 30′, two story building built by the Harrison County Mutual Telephone Company.
The main floor of the building was a residence for the head telephone operator and (usually) her family. It consisted of two bedrooms, a kitchen and living room. At that time, Ridgeway had no city water or sewer service, so an outdoor water pump and outhouse served the family’s needs. The upper floor functioned as the telephone office. To get to the office, one entered through a door on the Pine Street side and climbed the stairs. The building was completed in March, 1910, and the first family moved in.
In 1937, the telephone company announced that they would be remodeling the building and removing the upper story due to the significant repairs that needed to be made. (The building had and still has a flat roof — most likely water damage from a leaky roof.). The upper story was actually removed in 1939 and the switchboard was moved to the living room on the main level.
The central office remained in operation until 1956 when rotary dial phones eliminated the need for operators to connect each call. The building was sold to the Ridgeway Church of Christ which used it for a place of worship. Over the years, the building has been used for a rental home, break room for the meat locker across the street and a taxidermy shop. We purchased the building in 2022 and were honored to be able to completely renovate it and open our two businesses in it: Ridgeway Technical Services and Paula’s Sewing Corner.