Swedish American Telephone Company Building

The Swedish American Telephone Company Building stands as a reminder of the Swedish enclave that lived near the business and the prominent role Swedish Americans played in the early days of the telephone. Accurate or not, the Swedes enjoyed a reputation for mastering telephone technology. The F.S. Betz Medical Supply Company constructed the historic building, but the Swedish American Telphone Company (established in 1899) moved into the building in 1905 after F.S. Betz vacated the facility. They remained in the building until 1923, when Denoyer-Geppert Company, a map and globe maker, moved in; they used the historic building as their headquarters for sixty years.  

The Swedes gained a reputation for being masters of "telephony" around the turn of the twentieth century. The Swedes quickly produced an entire telephone network throughout its cities during the late 1800s, and they successfully developed international companies such as the Stockholm-based Ericsson Telephone Co. and the Chicago-based Stromberg-Carlson managed by Swedish Americans. Thus, the creation of the Swedish-American Telephone Company in 1899 was as much strategic as it was self-descriptive; Swedes only comprised a portion of the company's workforce.

The Swedish-American Telephone Co. arose during a rapid and chaotic time of telephone development and installation in Chicago. In 1878, the first Bell company began operations with a mere seventy-five telephones, which increased to 100,000 by 1905. After Alexander Graham Bell’s phone manufacturing patent expired in 1894, several new phone companies quickly emerged, including the aforementioned Stromberg-Carlson, Chicago Telephone Supply Co., and Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Co. Chicago residents witnessed the competing phone companies create a mess of components and wires, and employees routinely switched or worked simultaneously for competing companies.

The Swedish-American Telephone Co., founded by John S. Gullborg, a Swedish-born inventor and manufacturer, and Ellsworth Overshiner, an American-born businessman and telephone exchanges operator, rose to prominence as a telephone parts and apparatus distributor, selling much of its equipment to the Chicago Telephone Company. By 1905, the company required larger quarters to increase its production capacity, so it moved into the now-historic building formerly occupied by the Betz Company. Many of the company's employees lived nearby in what was then a predominantly Swedish neighborhood. The company remained an integral player in the phone industry and the Swedish enclave until it was sold and vacated the building in 1923. 

During the Swedish-American Telephone Co.'s presence in Chicago, telephone usage grew immensely. By 1930, 1.26 million Chicagoans used telephones (one for every 3.7 people), one of the highest ratios in the world. 

The Denoyer-Geppert Co. moved into the complex in 1923. They produced high-quality maps, charts, globes, medical models, and educational films. The firm expanded the historic property until it spanned three blocks. In 1984, the company vacated the property after Rand-McNally purchased the business. Afterward, the investors renovated the building and transformed it into loft apartments. 

Clayman, Andrew. "Denoyer-Geppert Company, est. 1916." Made in Chicago Museum. Accessed September 4, 2023. https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/denoyer-geppert/.

--- --- ---. "Swedish-American Telephone Co., est. 1899." Made in Chicago Museum. Accessed September 4, 2023. https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/swedish-american-telephone-co/.

FitzGerald, Patrick. "Nomination Form: Swedish American Telephone Co . building." National Register of Historic Places. archives.gov. 1985. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892434. 

John, Richard R. "Telephony." The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. 2005. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1236.html.