Val Vashon, who spotted a Seattle payphone on the brink of extinction, checks in with another dispatch. This time the news is good: There are actually a couple of working payphones in Seattle, and they even accept incoming calls.
“These two are outside of a grocery store in Westwood Village called “QFC”. It’s owned by Kroger.”
“One has the number (206) 932-9608 listed on it…”
“One doesn’t. It’s (206) 932-9616. Go ahead and call either number – they ring nice and loud.”
“These phones cater to the Spanish speaking population. There’s a fairly large community just south of here in White Center.”
“Even though they are operated by FSH in Phoenix, they are still marked as being a “Qwest” phone. Qwest was the local home phone provider until two years ago when they were acquired by Century Link.”
“Here’s my assistant helping me get the number off of the unmarked phone. It was 50 cents well spent. How many 8 year olds do you suppose have ever talked on a payphone?”
Thanks to Val Vashon for some good news from the world of Seattle payphones. Not only are there working payphones in Seattle but these suckers actually accept incoming calls. That is pretty unusual, since most payphones are programmed to reject incoming calls.
If you have Skype you can click these links and strike up a conversation with whoever answers:
These payphones are listed on the old Seattle Payphone Locator at Payphone-Project.com, meaning that these payphone locations have been in service for a long time.
You can see larger versions of these images at PayphonePictures.com.