Boston Payphones, 2014

Here are a few of the payphones I spotted in Boston’s downtown area in July, 2014, when I and a then-girlfriend were in town to attend a wedding in Salem. I have others from other parts of town I will share later, including some that are not only still present but which seem to work. Boston was, in recent years at least, a pretty good payphone town, with phones found in most subway stations and high foot-traffic areas. One peculiarity about them was how they sent out fake CallerID, making calls from any of these phones look like they came from Las Vegas.

Two phones once stood at Washington Street and Temple Place. 617-338-7001 was originally listed at the Payphone Project. Attempts to call this number lead to a recording promising to help “find another business in your area”. Typically these automated pre-recorded voice prompts attempt to link you to Dish Network Television or somesuch, to sell you a subscription. This recording cut off before it could connect me to any kind of sales pitch. Listen:

The other phone, 638-338-5922, also listed on the old Payphone Project listings, leads to a “not in service message”.

 

617-338-9011 is listed on the Boston Payphone Locator page but appears to have been removed.

 

The above payphone, once identified as 617-338-9016 and also located on the Boston Payphone Locator page is “disconnected. No further information is available”, as per this recording:

 

Neither 617-523-8445 nor 617-523-8579 are in service anymore, nor are the numbers listed on the Payphone Project’s payphone number data museum. Another phone, not seen in this photo but present on the same carousel as these, was at 617-523-8751 but is now gone.