SAN DIEGO CENTRAL OFFICES
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ALPINE
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Type: Rural
Old Exchanges: HIckory 5 |
 BORREGO SPRINGS
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Type: Rural A rather remote office, serving the small Borrego Springs community in sparse northeastern San Diego County. |
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CAMPO
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Type: Rural
Campo is a remote switch serving the rural east county of San Diego. Old Exchanges: GRanite 8 |
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CARLSBAD-HARDING
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Type: Urban
Old Exchanges: PArkway (72) |
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CARLSBAD-LA COSTA
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Type: Urban La Costa was built in the mid 1980s to relieve Carlsbad "Harding" and provide for expanded load growth in the Palomar Airport commercial/industrial areas.
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CHULA VISTA
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Type: Urban This office once served as a customer service center where customers could pay bills, etc. It was closed in the early 90s and now is just solely a switching center. Old Exchanges: HAncock (42), HAmilton, HAzelwood and GArfield.
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CHULA VISTA-EAST
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Type: Suburban
Chula Vista East was built in the early 1970 when a new community college and residential areas were being constructed to the east of the city. At the time Pacific Telephone was still under the "Bell" franchise and hence the really cool "Bell" logo formed into the concrete wall.
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CORONADO
Coronado is currently undergoing a major expansion, note original office at the far left.
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Type: Urban Old Exchanges: HEmlock (43), HEnley and HEmpstead
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DEL MAR
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Type: Urban Old Exchanges: SKyline (75) |
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DULZURA
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Type: Rural Dulzura is a small remote switch serving the Dulzura and Engineer Springs area of east San Diego County. Old Exchanges: HObart (46)
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ENCINITAS
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Type: Urban Old Exchanges: PLateau 3 |
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EL CAJON
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Type: Suburban Old Exchanges: HIckory 4 (444), and HIllsdale 4
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ESCONDIDO
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Type: Urban Escondido is a larger regional office and has a neat "space-age" design along with the old colors of Pacific Bell. Old Exchanges: SHerwood (74) 5, 6 |
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FALLBROOK
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Type:Suburban
Old Exchanges: RAndolph 8 |
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IMPERIAL BEACH
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Type: Urban Old Exchanges: Hancock 2 (42) and GArfield 4 (424)
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JAMUL
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Type: Rural
Jamul is a remote switch but one with a nice design. It serves one prefix or exchange. The office is of concrete brick adorned with red tile along the crest which fits nicely in the community. Note the top picture was taken about three years ago in 2000. Since then the office has been expanded as can be seen in the lower picture. |
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JACUMBA
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Type: Rural
Jucumba is a remote switch serving the extreme southeast corner of rural east San Diego County. Old Exchanges: POrter 6 |
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JULIAN
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Type: Rural
Julian is a remote switch serve the quaint mountain communities of Julian and Santa Ysabel in eastern San Diego. Old Exchanges: PIoneer 7 |
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LA JOLLA
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Type: Urban La Jolla is another CO that blends nicely into the community. Located in the busy downtown region of the city, the Spanish style architecture masks the office from the expensive homes and offices in the area. False arched mosaics hide the entrance doors and exhaust/HVAC vents. Old Exchanges: GLencove5 and GLenncourt4
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LA MESA
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Type: Urban Old Exchanges: HOmeland 6, HOpland 6 and HOward
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LAKESIDE
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Type: Suburban
Old Exchanges: HIlldale 4, Hobart 4 (44) and HIckory 3 (443) |
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NATIONAL CITY
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Type: Urban
Original office constructed in the 1930s. Old Exchanges: GRidley 4 and GRidley 7 |
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NETWORK OPERATIONS CENTER-SOUTHERN The Network Operations Center (NOC) is the control center for the entire Southern California Pacific Bell/SBC telephone system. This is the "Mission Control" for the network. In this building is a massive floor dedicated to "watching" the system. Huge screens broadcast information relating to system conditions and status while smaller screens play CNN so operators can be prepared for social events or disasters that might effect the telephone system. The NOC can remotely monitor any of the central offices in the region gathering such info as environmental information, switch status, and emergency generator operation. Trunk circuits are also monitored for capacity and loading and can be switched as necessary. Like the old Bell Microwave system and some of the buildings, the NOC was built to be survivable. Built to withstand earthquakes and other natural events, the NOC also has massive back up generators (each one 4200 horsepower) to provide continuity of service during a blackout. In the event the NOC is "knocked" (excuse the pun) out, total transfer of responsibilities can be accomplished by the Northern NOC near Sacramento.
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The NOC also has its own central office which is a remote switch and the single prefix is used mainly by control and administrative functions at the center.
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OCEANSIDE
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Type: Suburban Oceanside is an older CO in the San Diego region but has been added on to through the years hence the various forms of architecture. It serves as a mini hub to the coastal COs. At one time Oceanside had a microwave connection to San Diego-University via Black Mountain and to Redonda Mesa north toward Los Angeles. The microwave system was retired in the early 1990s and the "silo" tower removed. Old Exchanges: PArkway and SAratoga (72)
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OTAY MESA
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Type: Suburban
Otay Mesa is a relatively new CO built in the early 1990s to relieve San Ysidro CO from the Industrial/Commercial growth of the Otay Mesa/Border region area. |
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PACIFIC BEACH-GARNET
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Type: Urban
Pacific Beach "Garnet". The second CO in the heavily populated Pacific Beach/Morena area. Built in the 1940s, Garnet serves as the host CO for the Hornblend remote switch. (See Below) Old Exchange: BRoadway 3,4 and BRowning 6 |
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PACIFIC BEACH-HORNBLEND The Hornblend Office had its 15 minutes of fame a couple years ago when a local radio station brought attention to it. This office is located in a mainly residential zone and is surrounded by apartments and condos in the heavily populated Pacific Beach area. A person called the radio station's morning show to ask what this strange building was as it had no windows but people would go inside and not come back out. A range of answers followed including humorous ones such as a government testing facility or alien storage. The inquiries were finally quelled when a Pacbell representative called in and stated that the building was used to house telephone computers and equipment. Now we all know! |
Type: Urban Old Exchanges: HUdson 8 and HUmboldt 8 (488)
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PALA
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Type: Rural
Pala is a remote switch serving the Pauma Valley and Palomar Mountain areas. Old Exchanges: PIlgrim 2
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