Getting to the bottom of my survey of Boston payphones from 2014, having so far found only two that still appear to be on the streets and in working order, I turn next to these two specimens. I don’t know if these phones are gone but at present they at least appear to be not in working order. I say this based on my attempt to call these phones and getting no answer after several rings. Typically a working payphone answers on the first ring then emits a fax-modem-like sound, which is not really a fax.

Located (maybe? still?) at the corner of Dartmouth Street and Stuart Street, outside an Eastern Bank in Boston, these phones’ numbers would be (617) 247-1255 and (617) 247-1249. Both numbers are still listed as payphones at Twilio.

These payphone enclosures bear a tell-tale sign of being owned by PTS Providers, the nation’s largest payphone service provider. The yellow signs over the phones listing “FREE CALLS” invite callers to dial *10 to hear a daily prayer, *12 to find a job, etc. Not all of these *## shortcuts work but I find the daily prayer line kind of enchanting, though I am not religious. Depending which PTS phone you call from *10 might connect you to a prerecorded daily prayer, or else you might find yourself talking to a live prayer counselor. I prefer the recorded prayer.

The yellow “ALLERGIC TO ___” sticker, followed by a blank line someone filled filled in with the letters “THD”, probably has nothing to do with payphones. Maybe somebody thought it did?