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Content: AlexanderGraham Bell invented the
telephone in 1876. He made his first call in March to Thomas A. Watson,
saying, "Mr. Watson, come here; I want you." Few people considered
Bell's invention more than a toy, but it did not take long for people to
install telephones in their homes, businesses, or towns. Bell owned the
patents to the equipment and leased them out. Like other new
technology, fantastic rumorsabout its abilities
spread as telephones appeared first in New England, but quickly spread
west. The first telephone appeared in Wisconsin in 1877 when Appleton
banker Alfred Galpin ran a line from his residence to the bank. Several
months later, he built a homemade switchboard for twenty-five
telephones in Appleton. Rivaling Appleton for the earliest telephone was
Platteville, having one at least in 1878. Richard Valentine made a private line for himself and one for his
brother in Janesville in 1877.