The location of the world’s first true long-distance call. It happened between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, on August 10, 1876. For this call, Alexander Graham Bell used telegraph lines at Robert White’s Boot and Shoe Store in Paris. The line was about 13 km long between Paris and Brantford. It was extended another 93 km to Toronto to use a battery there.
When the lines were connected, Graham Bell heard “explosive sounds… mixed with a continuous crackling noise.” Bell fixed his device by changing the receiver’s electromagnet. Suddenly, voices came through “clearly and strongly” over the 106 km (66 miles) line. From Brantford’s Dominion Telegraph office, Professor Alexander Melville Bell sang songs, quoted Shakespeare, and read poetry to his son in Paris. People in Paris gathered to hear Melville’s voice from the simple metal box. Alexander Graham Bell could not talk back directly. He replied by telegraph on a separate line. Still, Alexander Graham later said this was the first one-way long-distance call “of several miles.”
A plaque marks the call at 91 Grand River Street N as the original building burnt down.
