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100-630: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, or "PacTel" for short, managed the Bell System 's telephone operations in California . It grew by acquiring smaller telephone companies along the Pacific coast. It built and occupied San Francisco's Pacific Telephone Building on New Montgomery Street which has been described as a "monument to western progress and foresight". During the San Francisco graft trials ,

200-572: A tandem switch and directly called numbers in those cities. These calls were indicated by a star in the telephone directory. For other call destinations, customers dialed "211" to reach a long-distance operator, who would connect the customer using manual trunks to reach a distant operator. When Pacific Telephone converted its San Francisco operations to 2L-5N calling in 1947, the old central office names were kept in most cases, with an extra digit appended. Certain exchanges were abandoned after being converted from manual service, such as WEst, RAndolph, and

300-472: A U.S. Maritime Service training facility in Avalon. Catalina's steamships were expropriated for use as troop transports, and the U.S. Maritime Service set up a training facility in Avalon. The Maritime Service announced on September 19, 1945, that the facility would soon be abandoned and all apprentice seaman on the west coast trained aboard three ocean-going vessels at Long Beach . In 1975, Philip Wrigley deeded

400-559: A decorative serpentine seawall . Many of these features were introduced to Avalon during an extensive re-design undertaken by Philip K. Wrigley in 1934. Extending out into the center of the harbor is the green Pleasure Pier. The north end of the harbor is dominated by the Catalina Casino . Built in a style described as a cross between Art Deco and Mediterranean Revival , the Casino serves as Avalon's most distinctive landmark. Outside of

500-451: A household in the city was $ 39,327, and the median income for a family was $ 46,406. Males had a median income of $ 30,789 versus $ 24,643 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 21,032. About 9.2% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over. Avalon is a resort community and has a primarily tourist-based economy. As of 2016, 38.4% of

600-464: A large manual office until 1956. Berkeley converted AShberry 3, its last manual office, to dial in 1963. Crockett, the final Bay Area manual office, was converted to dial in 1969. Acquisitions over the years extended Pacific Telephone's territory into Oregon , Washington , and northern Idaho . Those operations were split off on July 1, 1961, to form Pacific Northwest Bell . In the 1980s, Pacific Telephone's assets were valued at $ 14.5 billion, making it

700-526: A line from each company. In 1916, under pressure from local politicians and subscribers, Sunset Telephone Co. agreed to acquire the Home Company's operations. The new entity was called The Southern California Telephone Co. The two companies' operations were fully integrated in 1918. At the time of the 1918 merger, Home had 60,000 customers served from 16 dial offices. Sunset had 68,000 subscribers served from nine manual offices. Home's operations were sizable and

800-433: A minimum of 64.1 °F (17.8 °C). The highest recorded temperature was 105.1 °F (40.6 °C) on July 6, 2018, during a major Southern California heatwave, and the lowest recorded temperature was 29 °F (−2 °C) on January 2, 1973. Annual average precipitation is 11.88 inches (30.2 cm) and there are 34 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1983 with 34.54 inches (87.7 cm) and

900-529: A post- World War II reconstruction relationship with state-owned Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) before the 1956 boundaries were emplaced. Before 1956, the Bell System's reach was truly gargantuan. Even during the period from 1956 to 1984, the Bell System's dominant reach into all forms of communications was pervasive within the United States and influential in telecommunication standardization throughout

1000-631: A resort community. They built a dance pavilion in the center of town, made additions to the Hotel Metropole and steamer-wharf, built an aquarium, and created the Pilgrim Club (a gambling club for men only). Just as the Bannings were anticipating the construction of a new, Hotel Saint Catherine, their efforts were set back on November 29, 1915, when a fire burned half of Avalon's buildings, including six hotels and several clubs. In 1919, due to debt related to

1100-404: A result of this vertical monopoly , the Bell System effectively owned most telephone service in the United States by 1940, from local and long-distance service to the telephones. This allowed Bell to prohibit its customers from connecting equipment not made or sold by Bell to the system without paying fees. For example, if a customer desired a style of telephone not leased by the local Bell company,

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1200-401: A single Bell System trademark. For each regional operating company, its name was placed where "name of associated company" appears in this template version of the trademark. Bell system telephones and related equipment were made by Western Electric , a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Co. Member telephone companies paid a fixed fraction of their revenues as a license fee to Bell Labs . As

1300-592: A term that referred generally to all AT&T companies, of which there were five major divisions: In 1913, the federal government challenged the Bell System's growing monopoly over the phone system under AT&T ownership in an anti-trust suit, leading to the Kingsbury Commitment . Under the commitment, AT&T escaped break-up or nationalization in exchange for divesting itself of Western Union and allowing non-competing independent telephone companies to interconnect with its long-distance network. After 1934,

1400-601: A total of 202 establishments with a combined annual payroll of $ 90 million as of 2012. The Love Catalina Island Tourism Authority operates as the official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for the island and hosts a Visitor Center open 364 days a year on the Green Pleasure Pier. The city's poverty rate is 14.0% and the number of families in poverty stands at 11.9%. The unemployment rate stood at 3.7% as of October 2014, compared to 7.9% in Los Angeles County as

1500-580: A whole. The municipal government of the City of Avalon is of the council–manager type. The Mayor is elected to serve a two-year term while the City Councilors are elected to four-year terms. The City Manager is the executive officer of the city and is appointed directly by the City Council. The new City Hall was completed June 8, 2004. It contains local government offices as well as the council chambers. In

1600-489: Is Pebbly Beach, an industrial area home to the Pebbly Beach Seaplane Base & Heliport and Pebbly Beach Generating Station, where Avalon gets its power. Most of the residential units in Avalon are tucked away off of the beachfront, either in the flat lands further back into the canyon or on the hills that constitute the sides of Avalon Valley. Many of the major municipal amenities are located even further into

1700-515: Is composed of three Mission Style buildings, a gymnasium, four secondary bungalows, and sixteen elementary bungalows. For high school sports, Avalon is a member of the CIF Southern Section . The school mascot is the Lancer . The teams are referred to either as the "Avalon Lancers" or "Lancers". Home games are played in Avalon, and visiting teams must travel by boat to the island in order to make

1800-464: Is divided into two classifications: within Avalon and "Interior" (areas outside the city limits). The city has its own strict permit program with which local vehicle owners must comply, in addition to the usual requirements imposed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles . Because of these restrictions, there is no regular vehicle ferry service for visitors to take their car to Avalon and

1900-489: Is located at the site of the former Bird Park, which itself was built from materials left over from the demolition of the original Sugarloaf Casino. For K-12 education , children attend Avalon School . Avalon Schools are part of the Long Beach Unified School District . It is divided into an elementary, middle, and high school, but a single principal administers all three levels of education. The campus

2000-763: Is served by several high-speed passenger boats with daily services such as the Catalina Express to San Pedro in Los Angeles ; Long Beach ; and Dana Point . Daily service is also provided by the Catalina Flyer to Newport Beach in Orange County. Private vessels that come to Avalon Harbor are assigned a mooring by the Avalon Harbor Patrol on a first-come, first-served basis. Boaters can get from their vessels to shore either by mooring their dinghies at one of

2100-609: Is the SBC subsidiary that provides regulated local exchange carrier telephone services within the franchise territory in California. On November 18, 2005, SBC completed its acquisition of AT&T Corp. to form AT&T Inc. Pacific Bell is now known as "Pacific Bell Telephone Company", dba AT&T California. In 2006, the company's direct parent, originally Ameritech , became AT&T Teleholdings due to an internal reorganization at AT&T. Its former direct parent, Pacific Telesis Group,

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2200-638: Is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island , in the California Channel Islands , and the southernmost city in Los Angeles County . The city is a resort community with the waterfront dominated by tourism -oriented businesses. The older parts of the town on the valley floor consist primarily of small houses and two and three-story buildings in various traditional architectural styles. In 1919, William Wrigley Jr. gained control of Avalon and oversaw much of its development, including

2300-474: Is very difficult for a private citizen to get a permit to have a full-size vehicle in Avalon. The permit is issued to the individual as opposed to a specific vehicle, is surrendered when residency on the island ends, and is not transferable except through petition before the city council. Only one new vehicle permit is issued for every two permits that become ineligible to be renewed or are voluntarily surrendered. For purposes of vehicle registration, Catalina Island

2400-486: The Baby Bells and do not provide telephone service. Beginning in 1991, the Baby Bells began to consolidate operations or rename their Bell Operating Companies according to the parent company name, such as "Bell Atlantic – Delaware, Inc." or "U S WEST Communications, Inc.", to unify their corporate images. The Bell System service marks, including the circled-bell logo, especially as redesigned by Saul Bass in 1969, and

2500-588: The California State Legislature , Avalon is located in the 26th Senate District , represented by Democrat María Elena Durazo , and in the 70th Assembly District , represented by Republican Tri Ta . Federally, Avalon is in California's 47th congressional district , represented by Democrat Katie Porter . The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Avalon Station in Avalon. Several deputies are stationed on

2600-560: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assumed regulation of AT&T. Proliferation of telephone service allowed the company to become the largest corporation in the world until its dismantling by the United States Department of Justice in 1984, at which time the Bell System ceased to exist. Receiving a U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone on March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell formed

2700-400: The graft prosecutions , E.F. Pillsbury, General Counsel for the telephone company, revealed that he had never heard of Ruef's employment, and would have objected to Ruef receiving compensation greater than his own $ 1,000 per month. During the first part of the 20th century, Pacific Telephone & Telegraph, along with the rest of the Bell System, initially resisted automating its services, on

2800-595: The massive earthquake of 1906 , the Home Telephone Company contributed $ 75,000 to a relief fund for the city, but asked that it be held until their franchise was approved. It was later revealed that the city's supervisors had received payoffs through Ruef from both the Home Telephone Company and Pacific States Telephone Co. Home Telephone paid 10 supervisors $ 3,500 each and seven supervisors $ 6,000 each (about $ 118,689 to $ 203,467 in 2024). Pacific States Telephone Co. paid 10 supervisors $ 5,000 each ($ 67,822 today). After

2900-496: The post-World War II occupation was considered an administrative adjunct to the North American Bell System. Immediately before the 1984 break-up, the Bell System had the following corporate structure : On January 1, 1984, the former components of the Bell System were structured into the following Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), which became known as Baby Bells. After 1984, multiple mergers occurred of

3000-550: The 1915 fire and a general decline in tourism during World War I , the Bannings were forced to sell the island in shares. In February 1919, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. bought a controlling interest in Santa Catalina Island and its associated properties from the Banning Brothers. Wrigley devoted himself to preserving and promoting it, investing millions in needed infrastructure and attractions, including

3100-677: The 1920s. When PacTel took over the operations of its San Francisco and Oakland competitor, Home Telephone Co., in the early 1920s, their customers were switched from Home's dial service to Pacific Telephone manual exchanges. A 1927 Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. publication proudly describes the company's newest manual offices, without a word of plans to introduce dial service. San Francisco's first dial office, ORdway, opened on March 23, 1929. The first suburban step-by-step (electromechanical stepping switch ) office opened in Palo Alto in 1929. Telephone service conversion from manual to dial systems

Pacific Bell - Misplaced Pages Continue

3200-615: The 1921 installation of the nation's first large panel switch in Omaha, the Bell operating companies began to install automated switching equipment. Los Angeles and San Francisco employed different approaches for adopting new automatic switching technology. The Los Angeles Telephone Co. had merged with the Sunset Telephone Co. of northern California in 1883. Sunset was subsequently acquired by Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. in 1906. Following

3300-449: The 2010 United States Census, Avalon had a median household income of $ 65,433, with 12.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,127 people, 1,158 households, and 719 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,112.4 inhabitants per square mile (429.5/km ). There were 1,839 housing units at an average density of 654.2 per square mile (252.6/km ). The racial makeup of

3400-468: The Avalon Harbor Patrol. The United States Postal Service Avalon Post Office (ZIP 90704) is located at 118 Metropole Street. Avalon has voted for Democrats in the last four presidential elections, and has also displayed some independent leanings. In 2016, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton received a lower percentage of the vote than the previous nominees of their respective parties had received. In 1992, independent candidate Ross Perot carried

3500-622: The Bell System of abusing its monopoly power, and had brought legal action multiple times over the decades. In 1974 the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice brought a lawsuit against Bell claiming violations of the Sherman Act . In 1982, anticipating that it could not win, AT&T agreed to a Justice Department-mandated consent decree that settled the lawsuit and ordered it to break itself up into seven " Regional Bell Operating Companies " (known as "The Baby Bells"). This ended

3600-488: The Bell System's Caribbean regional operating companies. The consent decree also forced Bell to make all of its patents royalty-free . This led to substantial increases in innovation, in particular in the electronics and computer sectors. Steven Weber 's The Success of Open Source characterizes the consent decree as important in fostering the open source movement. The Bell System also owned various Caribbean regional operating companies, as well as 54% of Japan's NEC and

3700-580: The Bell Telephone Company in 1877, which in 1885 became AT&T. When Bell's original patent expired 15 years later in 1894, the telephone market opened to competition and 6,000 new telephone companies started while the Bell Telephone company took a significant financial downturn. On April 30, 1907, Theodore Newton Vail returned as President of AT&T. Vail believed in the superiority of one national telephone system and AT&T adopted

3800-438: The Bell name and the circled-bell trademark until SBC opted for all of its companies to do business under the "SBC" name in 2002. Bell Atlantic used the Bell name and circled-bell trademark until renaming itself Verizon in 2000. Pacific Bell continued operating in California under that name (or the shortened "PacBell" nickname) until SBC purchased it. In Canada, Bell Canada ( divested from AT&T in 1975) continues to use

3900-429: The Bell name. For the decades that Nortel was named Northern Telecom, its research and development arm was Bell Northern Research. Bell Canada and its holding-company parent, Bell Canada Enterprises , still use the Bell name. They used variations of the circled-bell logo until 1977, which until 1976 strongly resembled the 1921 to 1939 Bell System trademark shown above. Avalon, California Avalon

4000-644: The Catalina Visitors Country Club, Catalina Island Golf Course, Descanso Beach Club and the Casino Ballroom. In May 2007, the Island Fire burned 4,750 acres (19.2 km ) of land just outside Avalon's city limits. Over 200 firefighting recruits were brought over by U.S. Marine hovercraft and helicopter to protect the city. Ultimately, only one residence and six commercial structures were destroyed. In February 2011, water regulators cited

4100-517: The DOJ had agreed upon in 1956. Before the 1956 break-up, the Bell System included the companies listed below, plus those listed in the pre-1984 section. Northern Electric and the Caribbean regional operating companies were considered part of the Bell System proper before the break-up. Nippon Electric was considered a more distant affiliate of Western Electric, and through its own research and development adapted

Pacific Bell - Misplaced Pages Continue

4200-686: The Department of Justice in 1913. AT&T committed to sell its $ 30 million in Western Union capital stock, allow competitors to interconnect with its long-distance telephone network, and not acquire other independent companies without permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission . The Bell trademark was used from 1921 through 1969 by both the AT&;T corporation and the regional operating corporations to co-brand themselves under

4300-503: The Northwestern Bell name. In 1984, each regional Bell operating company was assigned a set list of names it was allowed to use in combination with the Bell marks. By 2022, all these Bell System names had disappeared from the United States business landscape. Cincinnati Bell was the last to use the name, until 2022 when it rebranded to Altafiber , though it still has Cincinnati Bell as its corporate name. Southwestern Bell used both

4400-578: The United States. Many companies were vying for a piece of the money to be made. The city's supervisors had run on a platform that included the city acquiring its own telephone system which both Home Telephone Company and Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company wanted to prevent. The Home Telephone Company, financed by investors from Southern California and Ohio, was trying to wrest the telephone franchise held exclusively by Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company in Northern California. After

4500-619: The Wrigley shares in the Santa Catalina Island Company to the Catalina Island Conservancy that he had helped create. The Conservancy now stewards 88 percent of the island, primarily outside of the City of Avalon. The Santa Catalina Island Company maintains control of much of its resort properties and operations within the City of Avalon. It still owns and operates many of the main tourist attractions in Avalon, including

4600-425: The age of 18 living in them, 641 (43.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 160 (10.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 90 (6.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 110 (7.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 5 (0.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 461 households (31.3%) were made up of individuals, and 125 (8.5%) had someone living alone who

4700-612: The assets of its parent, the American Bell Telephone Company. American Bell had created AT&T to provide long-distance calls between New York and Chicago and beyond. AT&T became the parent of American Bell Telephone Company, and thus the head of the Bell System, because regulatory and tax rules were leaner in New York than in Boston, where American Bell was headquartered. Later, the Bell System and its moniker "Ma Bell" became

4800-482: The bay and just north of the Casino is Descanso Beach, a private beach, entertainment and meetings venue run by the Santa Catalina Island Company. At the farthest north end of town are the Hamilton Cove condominiums, a gated community consisting mostly of second homes. South of the bay is Lovers Cove dive park, a marine reserve frequented by both snorkelers and the classic glass-bottom boat tours. Further south still

4900-500: The canyon, including City Hall, the fire station, the Catalina Island Medical Center, and Avalon Schools. The William Wrigley Jr. Summer Cottage , also known as Mount Ada, is now a hotel. The Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens are located at the farthest end of town away from the bay. The Memorial prominently features native Catalina Island building materials, including the famous pottery and tile that were made on

5000-730: The cities on the San Francisco Peninsula. The company announcement, “most Peninsula cities now have exchange names” confirmed that the old four- or five-digit numbers had been converted to the seven-digit exchange format. Manual numbers were still used in some peninsula cities and were listed in the directory without the first two letters of the name capitalized, indicating a non-dialable point requiring operator assistance to reach. For example: To place calls to certain other Northern California exchanges, such as Sacramento, Stockton, and Vallejo in Northern California, dial customers would dial "0" to reach an operator. The operator dialed through

5100-562: The city for letting tens of thousands of gallons of sewage reach the ocean in six spills since 2005. A report in June 2011 by the Natural Resources Defense Council listed Avalon as having one of the 10 most chronically polluted beaches in the United States. The pollution was caused by the city's sewer system, made of century-old clay and metal pipes. By 2011, the city had spent $ 3.5 million testing and rehabilitating sewer lines, but

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5200-403: The city is by small gasoline or electric powered motorcars referred to locally as "autoettes". These include numerous golf carts and similarly sized vehicles. Vehicles under 55 inches (140 cm) wide, 120 inches (300 cm) long, and less than 1,800 pounds (820 kg) may qualify as an autoette. Any resident may acquire an autoette permit with the restriction of one permit per household. It

5300-553: The city was 71.6% White , 0.7% Black , 1.0% Native American , 0.6% Asian , 0.2% Pacific Islander , 20.4% from other races , and 5.4% from two or more races. 46.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 1,158 households, out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who

5400-422: The city with 323 votes to George H.W. Bush's 315. There are two preschools within the City of Avalon, Catalina Kid Ventures and Pre-School Learning for Avalon Youth (P.L.A.Y.). Kid Ventures is located next to City Hall and is funded through the city support, tuition payments, and charitable donations. P.L.A.Y. is a cooperative preschool that is tucked further back into the canyon at 4 Bird Park Canyon Road. It

5500-563: The company was implicated in paying bribes to obtain an operations franchise in San Francisco. Theodore Halsey, a confidential political agent for the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company, paid attorney Abe Ruef a retainer of $ 1,250 a month for "advice" on municipal issues. Ruef was the political boss behind S.F. Mayor Eugene Schmitz . In 1906, San Francisco was one of the most promising places for investment in all of

5600-406: The construction of the landmark Catalina Casino . From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, several different developers tried to develop Avalon into a resort destination community , but most before Wrigley went bankrupt. The population was 3,460 at the 2020 census . Avalon attracts about 1 million visitors a year and is frequently visited by cruise ships. Before European colonization,

5700-604: The construction of the new Catalina Casino , completed May 29, 1929. In order to encourage growth, Wrigley purchased additional steamships to service Avalon, including the SS Virginia (renamed the SS Avalon ) and the SS Catalina which was launched on the morning of May 3, 1924. Wrigley also brought attention to the town of Avalon by having his Chicago Cubs use the island for the team's spring training from 1921 to 1951, absent

5800-445: The customer was required to purchase the instrument at cost, furnish it to the telephone company for rewiring, pay a service charge, and a monthly lease fee for using it. In 1949, the United States Department of Justice alleged in an antitrust lawsuit that AT&T and the Bell System operating companies were using their near-monopoly in telecommunications to attempt to establish unfair advantage in related technologies. The outcome

5900-531: The designs of Western Electric's North American telecommunications equipment for use in Japan, which to this day gives much of Japan's telephone equipment and network a closer resemblance to North American ANSI and iconectiv standards than to European-originated ITU-T standards. Before the 1956 break-up, Northern Electric was focused on manufacturing, without significant telecommunication-equipment research & development of its own. The operation of Japan's NTT during

6000-573: The dinghy docks, or by catching a ride on a private shoreboat. Several helicopter companies serve the city, with most landing at the Pebbly Beach Heliport, located south of Avalon Bay. Small planes can also land at the Catalina Airport , known as the "Airport in the Sky", located 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Avalon. Historically, during the early 1970s, scheduled passenger seaplane service

6100-574: The driest year was 1953 with 4.10 inches (10.4 cm). The most rainfall in one month was 11.68 inches (29.7 cm) in May 1921. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 6.75 inches (17.1 cm) on October 22, 1941. Weather records are still maintained at the Santa Catalina airport. The 2010 United States Census reported that Avalon had a population of 3,728. The population density was 1,269.2 inhabitants per square mile (490.0/km ). The racial makeup of Avalon

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6200-478: The eight Channel Islands of California . Due to its location on Catalina Island, it is the southernmost city in Los Angeles County . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 2.9 sq mi (8 km ) on land and 58,975 sq ft (5,479 m ) on water. The City of Avalon is oriented around Avalon Bay, with the harbor and beaches forming the center of

6300-413: The employed population worked in the arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services industries. An additional 13% worked in retail trade and 7% in real estate, rental, and leasing. Other major sources of employment in Avalon included education and healthcare (8%), construction (3%), transportation and warehousing (9%), and other services except public administration (8%) Overall, there were

6400-815: The existence of the conglomerate in 1984. The Baby Bells became independent companies and several of them are large corporations today. In 1877, the American Bell Telephone Company, named after Alexander Graham Bell , opened the first telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut . Within a few years local exchange companies were established in every major city in the United States. Use of the Bell System name initially referred to those early telephone franchises and eventually comprised all telephone companies owned by American Telephone & Telegraph , referred to internally as associated companies , regional holding companies , or later Bell operating companies (BOCs). In 1899, American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) acquired

6500-483: The famous CHina exchange of Chinatown. The manual 25th Street office in San Francisco, serving the MIssion, ATwater, and VAlencia exchanges, was converted to dial in 1952. On September 6, 1953, JUniper 6, previously known as RAndolph in the 2L-4N era, the last manual office within the City and County, cut over its 2,700 subscribers to crossbar equipment in the new Juniper central office on Onondaga Avenue. Riverside maintained

6600-645: The games. In turn, the Lancers travel to the mainland for away games. Children in Avalon have one other option for elementary education. Children may also study at the private Avalon Christian School, located on 346 Catalina Avenue. Students then attend Avalon Schools for junior high and high school education. In 2014, LBUSD closed their long-time one-room school , Two Harbors Elementary School, at Two Harbors in unincorporated Los Angeles County , citing that just two 4th grade students remained within Two Harbors. The city

6700-438: The industrialized world. The 1984 Bell System divestiture brought an end to the affiliation branded as the Bell System. It resulted from another antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1974, alleging illegal practices by the Bell System companies to stifle competition in the telecommunications industry. The parties settled the lawsuit on January 8, 1982, superseding the former restrictions that AT&T and

6800-502: The island from 1927 through 1937. Avalon has a semi-arid climate ( Koppen : BSk ), with mild temperatures year-round. The National Weather Service maintained a cooperative station at the Avalon Pleasure Pier from 1909 through 1988. Average January temperatures are a maximum of 64.6 °F (18.1 °C) and a minimum of 49.3 °F (9.6 °C) and average August temperatures are a maximum of 75.4 °F (24.1 °C) and

6900-704: The island full-time with additional units brought from the mainland on an as-needed and seasonal basis. The city has its own full-time and volunteer fire departments for incidents within the city limits, while the Los Angeles County Fire Department serves the rest of the island. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Torrance Health Center in Harbor Gateway , Los Angeles , near Torrance and serving Avalon. The City of Avalon also provides additional services such as

7000-688: The island was inhabited by the Tongva people. Prior to the modern era, Avalon Bay was inhabited by people of the Gabrielino/Tongva tribe. The island was a major source of soapstone to the Tongva, who used the material to make stone vessels for cooking. The Tongva called the island Pimu or Pimugna and referred to themselves as the Pimugnans . However, by the 1830s, the entire island's native population had either died off, or had undergone forcible relocation to

7100-566: The largest of any of the 21 wholly owned Baby Bells owned by AT&T, which also made Pacific Telephone the "crown jewel" of the operating companies. However, Pacific Telephone was one of the least profitable Bells due to very tough local telephone regulations in California . Prior to the AT&;T breakup in 1984, AT&T held 89.8% of Pacific Telephone. After the breakup, The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company changed its name to Pacific Bell Telephone Company, or PacBell for short. Pacific Telesis

7200-434: The list of the most polluted beaches. In the 2010s, the Santa Catalina Island Company began a series of projects to upgrade the tourist amenities in Avalon, including the installation of a zip line at Descanso Beach. By 2014, the Santa Catalina Island Company was working on a number of redevelopment and remodeling projects, including a spa, aquatic facility, community center, new hotel, and 120 new homes. The largest project

7300-657: The local telephone companies separately under their original names. In September 2001, SBC rebranded the telephone company "SBC Pacific Bell". In late 2002, the companies were rebranded again as "SBC". Meanwhile, employees of SBC working in California who support SBC's non-regulated services and/or services provided both within and outside California were transferred to other SBC subsidiaries, like "Pacific Telesis Shared Services" and "SBC Operations, Inc." However, for legal and regulatory purposes, employees supporting local regulated services were still employed by "Pacific Bell Telephone Company dba SBC California ("SBC California")" which

7400-450: The mainland to work in the missions or as ranch hands for the many private land owners. In the 1860s, German immigrant Augustus William Timms ran a sheep herding business on Catalina Island. One of his vessels, the Rosita , would also ferry pleasure seekers across the channel to Avalon Bay for bathing and fishing. The settlement in Avalon was then referred to as Timms's Landing in his honor. By

7500-469: The marks on rare occasions to maintain their trademark rights, even less now that they have adopted names conceived long after divestiture. Examples include Verizon, which still used the Bell logo on its trucks and payphones until it updated its own logo in 2015, and Qwest, formerly US West , which licenses the Northwestern Bell and Mountain Bell names to Unical Enterprises, who makes telephones under

7600-416: The operating companies and between them, so that some components of the former Bell System are now owned by companies independent of the historic Bell System, including foreign telecommunications firms. The structure of the companies today is as follows. The following telephone companies are considered independent of the Baby Bells : The following companies were divested after 1984 from AT&T Corp. or

7700-419: The premise that their people could provide better service than machines. When it acquired competing providers, if the company provided automatic dial service, Bell removed the automatic equipment and replaced it with manual telephones and manual operator switchboards. The company soon realized its best manual systems were unable to keep up with the growing demand for telephone service. In the early 1920s, following

7800-408: The public felt Home provided better service than Sunset, so Pacific Telephone didn't convert the dial offices to manual as it had in the past. Instead, they took the highly unusual step of adding a dial and trunk lines to every manual switchboard position. In this way, former Sunset customers could reach the former Home subscribers via their central office operator. The last Los Angeles manual exchange

7900-548: The purchase by PacTel, the southern California company remained a separate operation and used the Sunset name. The Los Angeles area was also served by a competitor, The Home Telephone Co., which began offering automatic (dial) service in 1902. The Sunset Telephone Co. subscribers were able to make local and long-distance calls via the Bell System, but Home Telephone Co. customers could make only local calls to other Home customers. To reach both exchanges, businesses were required to pay for

8000-501: The same name ). Shatto laid out Avalon's streets, and introduced it as a vacation destination to the general public. Despite Shatto's efforts, in a few years he had to default on his loan and the island went back to the Lick estate. The sons of Phineas Banning bought the island in 1891 from the Lick estate and established the Santa Catalina Island Company to develop it as a resort. The Banning brothers fulfilled Shatto's dream of making Avalon

8100-449: The settlement that would become Avalon, and can be credited with building the town's first hotel, the original Hotel Metropole, and pier. Though early maps labeled the town Shatto , Shatto's sister-in-law Etta Whitney came up with the permanent name of Avalon in reference from a poem by Lord Tennyson called " Idylls of the King " about the legend of King Arthur (which features an island of

8200-476: The slogan One Policy, One System, Universal Service. This became the company's philosophy for the next 70 years. Under Vail, AT&T began acquiring many of the smaller telephone companies including the Western Union Telegraph Company . In response to the threat of antitrust action from government, AT&T entered into an out-of-court agreement, known as the Kingsbury Commitment with

8300-465: The summer of 1883, there were thirty tents and three wooden buildings at Timms's Landing. The first owner to try to develop Avalon Bay into a resort destination was George Shatto , a real estate speculator from Grand Rapids, Michigan . Shatto purchased the island for $ 200,000 from the estate of James Lick at the height of a real estate boom in Southern California in 1887. Shatto created

8400-500: The town's activity. The Cabrillo Mole, located at the south end of the harbor, acts both as a breakwater and the main docks for the cross-channel passenger boats. Many of the commercial businesses dedicated to serving visitors are located along the Crescent Street pedestrian mall , which runs just behind the three main beaches of Avalon Bay. The pedestrian walkway is adorned throughout with decorative pavers, fountains, palm trees, and

8500-414: The various resulting 1984 spinoffs, only BellSouth actively used and promoted the Bell name and logo during its entire history, from the 1984 break-up to its reunion with the new AT&T in 2006. Similarly, cessation of using either the Bell name or logo occurred for many of the other companies more than a decade after the 1984 break-up as part of an acquisition-related rebranding. The others have only used

8600-462: The war years of 1942–45. The ball field was at the southwest border of Avalon, between Tremont Street and the golf course. Following the death of William Wrigley, Jr. in 1932, his son Philip K. Wrigley took over the Santa Catalina Island Company. Philip continued his father's work in the improvement of the infrastructure of the City of Avalon. During World War II , the island was closed to tourists and used for military training facilities, including

8700-415: The water was no cleaner. In February 2012, a cease and desist order was issued against the city for illegally discharging polluted water into the bay. After the cease and desist order, the city invested an additional $ 5.7 million on sewer main improvements and inspection and tracking systems. As a result of these efforts, the 2014 report showed that water quality had improved, and Avalon Beach was removed from

8800-448: The words Bell System in text, were used before January 1, 1984, when the AT&T divestiture of its regional operating companies took effect. The word mark Bell , the logo, and other related trademarks, are held by each of the remaining Bell companies, namely AT&T, Verizon , CenturyLink , and Altafiber . International rights to the marks, except for Canada , are held by a joint venture of these companies, Bell IP Holdings . Of

8900-825: Was a 1956 consent decree limiting AT&T to 85% of the United States' national telephone network and certain government contracts, and from continuing to hold interests in Canada and the Caribbean . The Bell System's Canadian operations included the Bell Canada regional operating company and the Northern Electric manufacturing subsidiary of the Bell System's Western Electric equipment manufacturer. Western Electric divested Northern Electric in 1956, but AT&T did not divest itself of Bell Canada until 1975. ITT Inc. , then known as International Telephone & Telegraph Co. , purchased

9000-551: Was 2,313 (62.0%) White (41.1% Non-Hispanic White), 20 (0.5%) African American , 22 (0.6%) Native American , 49 (1.3%) Asian , 13 (0.3%) Pacific Islander , 1,137 (30.5%) from other races , and 174 (4.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2,079 persons (55.8%). The Census reported that 3,721 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 7 (0.2%) were institutionalized. There were 1,473 households, out of which 488 (33.1%) had children under

9100-521: Was 37.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males. There were 2,266 housing units at an average density of 771.5 per square mile (297.9/km ), of which 383 (26.0%) were owner-occupied, and 1,090 (74.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.7%. 801 people (21.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,920 people (78.3%) lived in rental housing units. According to

9200-407: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53. There were 891 families (60.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.25. The population was spread out, with 960 people (25.8%) under the age of 18, 316 people (8.5%) aged 18 to 24, 953 people (25.6%) aged 25 to 44, 1,093 people (29.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 406 people (10.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

9300-451: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.38. In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males. The median income for

9400-627: Was Thornwall 6, in Burbank, which operated until the late 1950s. The last manual office in southern California was in Avalon , on Catalina Island , dating from a radiotelephone service installed in the early 1920s. Pacific Telephone later laid two submarine cables to link the island to the mainland. Avalon was converted to dial in 1978, using switching equipment 23 miles away in the San Pedro central office. San Francisco continued to install manual offices throughout

9500-498: Was a new $ 6-million museum building on Metropole Street to replace the old location in the Casino building. Some community members, including a member of the City Council, expressed concerns about the pace of the changes to the town. Avalon is located on Santa Catalina Island , approximately 22 miles (35 km) south-by-southwest of the Los Angeles Harbor breakwater . It is the only incorporated city to be located on one of

9600-591: Was formed as a holding company for PacBell's interests, with PacBell and Nevada Bell (which PacBell had owned since 1913) as its operating companies. Since Nevada Bell had long been a PacBell subsidiary, that company was omitted from the Modification of Final Judgment that broke up the Bell System. In 1997, Pacific Telesis Group was acquired by SBC Communications , and although the Pacific Telesis corporate name disappeared fairly quickly, SBC continued to operate

9700-731: Was legally merged into AT&T Teleholdings. In 2007, local telephone service in California was further deregulated, resulting in price increases for AT&T California customers. Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over 100 years from its creation in 1877 until its antitrust breakup in 1983. The system of companies

9800-448: Was often colloquially called Ma Bell (as in "Mother Bell"), as it held a vertical monopoly over telecommunication products and services in most areas of the United States and Canada. At the time of the breakup of the Bell System in the early 1980s, it had assets of $ 150 billion (equivalent to $ 440 billion in 2023) and employed over one million people. Beginning in the 1910s, American antitrust regulators had been observing and accusing

9900-597: Was operated by Catalina Air Lines, a division of Golden West Airlines , between Avalon Harbor and both Long Beach Airport and the Orange County Airport (now John Wayne Airport ). Golden West Airlines also operated de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter STOL turboprops with scheduled passenger service at this same time between Airport in the Sky and both Los Angeles International Airport ( LAX ) and Long Beach Airport . The main method of transportation within

10000-535: Was slowed by equipment shortages during World War II . San Jose had been planned for conversion before the war, but remained on manual service until 1949. In preparation for Operator Toll Dialing , the precursor to customer DDD ( Direct Distance Dialling ), cities throughout the country converted telephone numbers to a standardized 2L-5N format, e.g. EXchange 1-2345. San Francisco completed its conversion in December 1947. In July 1948, Pacific Telephone converted most of

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