Congratulations to our good friend and contributor Dr. Stacey Daniels, author of The Comedy of Crystal Lake, who provided your editors with the answer to the September Mystery Photo!:

The question was easy to answer: http://traversehistory.org/tours/historical-timeline/

• 1923 Michigan Bell bought out Citizens Telephone Company
• 1874 Michigan Bell telephone line comes to T.C. from Charlevoix  (Our editors question this date, since Bell’s invention dates from 1877)

But did you know the following?

“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 Bell Operating Companies, or ‘BOCs’.” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System) 

The telephone didn’t come to Benzie County until after Archibald Jones lowered Crystal Lake in 1873, according to History of Benzie County Michigan, The Traverse Region (H.R. Page & Co., 1884, p. 288-298).

“…and telephone lines, daily mails and other conveniences are in operation (as of 1884)”.

Regards, Stacy