Southern Bell

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Not to be confused with Southern belle.

For the company founded in 1983 as Southern Bell, see BellSouth Telecommunications.

Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company

Industry	Telecommunications
Fate	Merged
Successor(s)	SBT&T Co.
Founded	1879
Defunct	1983
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Products	Local Telephone Service
Parent	American Bell (1879-1899) AT&T (1899-1983)

Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company was the Bell Operating Company serving the states of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina prior to the divestiture. Southern Bell began 1879 as The Atlanta Telephonic Exchange and was based in Atlanta. It changed its name to Southern Bell.^[1] Southern Bell also operated in Charleston and other parts of West Virginia from 1883 until 1917, when The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia took over operations.^[2]

Split

On December 20, 1967 Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company formed South Central Bell Telephone Company to operate in five of its nine states (Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee). A similar arrangement occurred in 1961 when Pacific Northwest Bell was formed from Pacific Telephone.

Reincorporation

Southern Bell, originally incorporated in New York, was reincorporated in Georgia in 1983 as SBT&T Co.^[3] The original Southern Bell was then merged into SBT&T Co., at which point that company was renamed Southern Bell. Since BellSouth, the new owner of Southern Bell and South Central Bell upon the divestiture of AT&T, was based in Georgia, it was more practical to have Southern Bell incorporated in the same state.

The 1983 company survives today as BellSouth Telecommunications.

Southern Bell was headquartered in (what is now) the AT&T Midtown Center building in Atlanta, Georgia.

References

Bell System

Parent company

American Telephone and Telegraph Company

Local telephone companies still extant

Wholly owned	Bell Telephone Company of Nevada The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company of Maryland The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company of Virginia Diamond State Telephone Illinois Bell Indiana Bell Michigan Bell Mountain Bell New England Telephone New Jersey Bell New York Telephone Northwestern Bell Ohio Bell Pacific Northwest Bell Pacific Telephone South Central Bell Southern Bell Southwestern Bell Wisconsin Telephone

Partially owned	Southern New England Telephone Cincinnati Bell

Other subsidiaries

Manufacturing	Western Electric

Research	Bell Labs

Long distance	Long Lines

Wireless	Advanced Mobile Phone Service

Historical

Commemorative	Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site Bell Homestead National Historic Site Bell Telephone Memorial Telephone Pioneers of America Spirit of Communication

Defunct	Bell Telephone Company, National Bell Telephone Company, American Bell Telephone Company New England Telephone and Telegraph Company International Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company of Canada Northern Electric Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company AT&T Technologies, Inc.

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