Built c. 1960 Added to NRHP 9 November 2015 | NRHP Reference # 15000291 | |
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Location Prairie Grove, Arkansas Address 505 E Douglas St, Prairie Grove, AR 72753, USA Similar Prairie Grove Battlefield, Cane Hill Road Bridge, Ozark Folk Center, Mount Magazine, Borden House | ||
The Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth is a telephone booth installed at the southwest corner of East Douglas and Parker Streets in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, in the United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 2015, becoming the first structure of its kind to be added to the list.
Description and history
The phone booth is located on the east side of Prairie Grove, opposite the entrance to Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park on U.S. Highway 62, and in front of the Colonial Motel. It is a structure built out of aluminum with a satin finish, and glass window walls, with a bifold door that folds inward, topped by a red panel marked "TELEPHONE". It rests on a small concrete pad, with the door facing the highway, and measures about 86.125 inches (218.76 cm) in height, and 33.5 inches (85 cm) in width and depth at its base. It is slightly larger at the top, with an aluminum roof that projects slightly beyond the walls. The interior of the booth houses an aluminum shelf, above which the original telephone is mounted. A swiveling directory holder is mounted in the shelf, and there is a fluorescent light fixture mounted in the ceiling.
The Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth was introduced by American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) in 1954, as a way to install public telephones in outdoor locations. Previously, telephones, even publicly accessible pay phones, had generally only been available indoors. This particular telephone booth was installed about 1960 by the local Prairie Grove Telephone Company, to serve visitors to the nearby motel and state park. It is the only surviving booth of the company's original four.
In 2014, the phone booth was damaged by an SUV, after which the company repaired it, replacing a few of its glass panes and straightening bent metal parts. Ralph Wilcox, director of historic preservation programs for Arkansas, believes it is one of only two telephone booths of this type in the state with a working phone.