Boston Payphones, 2014: Dartmouth and Stuart

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?