The Peninsular Telephone Company was an independent company initially stationed in Tampa and operating just 100 telephone lines in 1901. The company eventually expanded to occupy six counties in Florida and to operate more than 500,000 lines in 1963. This collection covers the companys initiation in 1901 through its name change to General Telephone in 1957 and a violent strike in 1963. Company founder William G. Brorein (1861-1936), a politician from Ohio who arrived in Tampa in 1901, noticed the boom in the South, but specifically in Florida and was convinced by friends to become involved in the telephone business. A charter for the Peninsular Telephone Company was approved in March of 1901. Four years later, in 1905, the company bought out the interests of Bell Telephone Company in the Tampa Bay area, drastically increasing the size of its machinery and clientele.Found below is a commemorative magazine celebrating the company's 50 year anniversary through presenting an overview of its history and a picture of the company founder. A selection of documents representing the differing opinions of the strike can also be found, including company bulletins, strikers news publications, and Tampa Tribune clippings covering the developements of the strike.
For Finding Aid see Peninsular Telephone Company Records
Page design and images by Raquell Russell.
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