Telephone exchange, 104 Front St.

In this home, the telephone exchange by Hart and Dunlevy was first operated by the Enteman family in 1925, then later by the McNay family. This was a time of party lines and asking the operator to connect your call. Long distance charges were an expensive problem but locals found a way around charges for the call. If you needed to call to Jeffersonville or Louisville, you would first contact a friend in Sellersburg who would relay the message south in order to avoid any added charges to your bill. The same steps would be done if you wanted to call Scottsburg without being charged, a friend in Underwood would relay the message north. If you had to make the call yourself, waiting until rates were reduced after 7p.m. was usually the practice.

In 1909, there were 142 telephones in Henryville. This was certainly something to be proud of, as we were third in the county behind Jeffersonville having 1400 telephones and Charlestown having 231.