The role of municipal officials in telephone system development: San Francisco, 1893-1915

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors employed several different strategies in its attempt to secure better telephone service in the city between 1893 and 1915. By describing these different strategies for addressing the problem of monopoly privilege (high rates, poor service, and municipal corruption), this paper illuminates the involvement of municipal politicians in determining the dynamics of telephone system development in San Francisco during the Progressive Era.