Monday, November 14, 2011

Have You Ever Heard of the Payphone Project?

While checking information about post offices, I noticed the web address said "Payphone Project".  Being of a curious nature I googled it.  I found several web pages with pictures of payphones and their stories.  My favorite is the one by Mark Thomas http://www.payphone-project.com .

After reading the web pages I was glad that I had taken a few pictures of payphones along the way.  I took them because you don't see that many phone booths anymore.  This picture was taken at Brockway, Montana.

Brockway, Montana is in McCone County.   The closest town is Circle, MT about 12 miles away.  Brockway is located near the Redwater River.


In 1910 three Brockway brothers filed adjoining homesteads near the Redwater River. By 1913 the settlement opened its first post office.   This is a current picture of the Brockway Post Office.   It is on the left side of the building.   It is one of the 85 Montana Post Offices under consideration for closing.   July 21, 2012 Brockway will host the 82nd Annual Dairy Day Rodeo.  In 2010 Brockway celebrated its 100th birthday.

The 2010 Montana census says 140 people live in Brockway.  I'm guessing that's the number of people in the surrounding area with Brockway as their address.   Coleboy22 in his song about Brockway says the population is 19.  I think that is probably optimistic about the town proper.

As I was taking pictures one of the four footed citizens stood guard duty.  He mistook us for paparazzi, and chose to escort us out of town.  He had such a satisfied look of a job well done.  I could almost hear him say, "They looked like shifty characters to me.  They didn't even put up a ruckus when I ran them out of town."

A one of a kind doggy.  Notice how the wind is blowing his fur.

http://visitmt.com/categories/city.asp?siteid=1&city=brockway

5 comments:

  1. It is so sad to see these things go out. Nostalgia... paychecks..progress? Maybe... my family has worked for the post office for 40+ years... very sad. Thanks for taking time to notice the nostalgia.

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  2. Would you believe I get excited when I see a pay phone? It's not because I intend on using it since I have a cell phone. But there's something nice about seeing one knowing that I could use it if I needed it. Plus, it brings me back to a simpler time when we weren't connected 24/7.

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  3. I keep wondering where Clark Kent will... This is pure nostalgia-so many stories written with payphones in them-mysteries, love stories and on. Just think, our grandchildren won't even know about them! And I wonder about the po's too. It is such a loss for communities to lose their one gathering place. (The dog photo is beautiful!) Thanks again for writing these histories.)

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  4. I love payphones - lots of memories of these all over the world, and being able to connect to home with just a "ching" of coins.

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  5. I love your last paragraph about your escort - your words captured the feelings I often have when greeted, escorted and quietly watched by town dogs.

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