Century-old Ti — Chief telephone operator

Employees of the Ticonderoga office of Northern New York Telephone Co. held a “very pleasant farewell party” for assistant chief operator Isabelle McAllister, who was transferring to Port Henry to accept a promotion to chief operator of what was then the central office.

“The evening was spent in dancing, after which a delightful luncheon was served,” the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on March 1, 1923.

“This is an advancement for Miss McAllister and her many friends wish her every success in her undertaking. Port Henry has one of the most up-to-date and newest central offices in this section of the state.”

It would be the first of many transfers for McAllister in her career spanning at least two decades.

Historic newspapers of the region document her regular visits back to Ticonderoga to visit her mother, Mrs. Joseph McAllister.

In her adolescent years at Ticonderoga, Isabelle McAllister passed the biology regents exam in 1913, and spelling and geography regents exams in 1912.

The Feb. 2, 1911 Ticonderoga Sentinel reported that she was on the sixth grade horor roll at Alexandria School.

McAllister worked at the Port Henry and later Elizabethtown offices until another major promotion in 1931, this time to help introduce groundbreaking technology.

“During the past fortnight the patrons of telephone service in these parts have missed the cheery voice of Miss Isabelle McAllister, the Elizabethtown chief operator,” The Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post reported on May 14, 1931.

McAllister had been promoted to chief operator at Potsdam at an important time.

“The Northern New York Telephone Company, keeping apace with the telephone improvements in the larger cities, has decided to introduce the Dial System in Potsdam and environs, and induced Miss McAllister to accept the burden of the new system.”

McAllister must have done a good job, as management presented her with a gold piece at the Potsdam officice annual Christmas party, The Potsdam Herald-Record reported on Dec. 23, 1931.

McAllister worked at Potsdam for about five years.

On Feb. 28, 1936, The Potsdam Herald-Recorder reported that McAllister was among 18 telephone operators from Potsdam and Fulton who attended a dinner at the Albion Hotel to honor Grace Hanitee Black, cashier of the Northern New York Telephone Co.

On April 29, 1936. it was McAllister who was guest of honor at an Albion Hotel dinner, as she prepared to leave May 1 for a new assignment at Albany.

She worked at the Albany, Syracuse and Kingston offices before winding up back at Port Henry and Elizabethtown in 1954, as chief long distance operator.

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