The Juneau & Douglas Telephone Company, 204 Main Street, sits on a sloped grade on Telephone Hill's east side below the hilltop where the Edward Webster House stands on 204 Main Street Block 6; Lots 3-4.

From 1915 until 1956 the company was located in a Webster House extension (Hurley, Carrigan 1983). By 1956, the increased telephone demand prompted the company's search for another site and construction of a larger building. Lots 3 and 4 were purchased that year from B.M. Behrends, a store owner and banker who had maintained ownership since 1901.

Two vintage residential structures were removed from the site to permit construction of the new telephone building. The telephone company's new structure housed the first automatic dialing system in Juneau. Today it serves as a switching station.

The Webster family sold the Juneau & Douglas Telephone Company to Continental Telephone Company in 1968.

The rectangular, one-story, Industrial Box building, was constructed in 1956. Its 40' x l00' area encompasses 4,000 square feet. The structure is made of steel and concrete with a steel entry door and stepped, flat canopy on the east facade.

The main floor's small switching room previously served as a public service counter. The room had four windows facing Main Street, but they have since been covered over. A larger room on the main floor contains the main frame of the switching station. The basement contains a storage area for an emergency generator, furnace, transformer and garage.

Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984

The Edward Webster House, 135-139 West Second Street, sits on the east ridge of Telephone Hill Historic Neighborhood overlooking downtown Juneau. Photographs of Juneau during the 1880s confirm that the Webster House was one of the early homes in the area. Robert E. Hurley, the grandson of  Edward Webster and Anna Faulkner-Scott-Knutson-Websterr, owned the home when the 1984 Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey was conducted in 1984.

Edward began construction of his house in 1882, and numerous extensions were added during the next 70 years (Hurley, Carrigan 1983). District Recorder records and the 1894 plat map of Juneau Townsite show Edward Webster and his business partner, Frank Bach, owning Lots 7 and 8 in Block 1.

The Webster family owned and operated the Juneau & Douglas Telephone Company from 1893 to 1968, the first commercial telephone service in Alaska. The phone company offices were located in the Webster home from 1915 to 1958 (DeArmond 1967; Hurley, Carrigan 1983).

Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984, evaluated the structure's architectural significance and concluded that with its numerous additions and alterations, the house was been altered beyond recognition of its original Classic Box design. These modifications contribute to its loss of architectural integrity, and was deemed a non-contributing structure to the Telephone Hill Historic Neighborhood.

The Webster House is listed on the Alaska Heritage Resources Survey (AHRS JUN 070).

Edward Webster arrived in Juneau in 1881 and staked placer claims in the Silver Bow Basin with his father, William I. Webster (Stone 1982).

Over the next ten years, the Websters located and developed the Humboldt Mine on Gold Creek. During this period, they established the first stamp mill in the Juneau Gold Belt (Alaska Monthly 1907). Webster also worked as a pile driver contractor, participating in the construction of wharves along the Juneau waterfront (Alaska Monthly 1907).

Frank Bach arrived in Juneau in 1883. He later moved across the Gastineau Channel to Douglas and opened a merchandise business (Alaska Monthly 1907; DeArmond 1967).

In 1893, business partners Edward Webster and Frank Bach constructed a two-telephone system across the channel to improve communication between their residences. The system proved successful, and the Treadwell Gold Mining Company soon connected to the line.

As other residents requested telephone service, Webster and Bach formed the Juneau and Douglas Telephone Company. By the late 1890s, the partnership dissolved and Webster assumed full ownership of the company.

Edward Webster married Anna Faulkner-Scott-Knutson Webster on August 10, 1910, in Juneau. She brought three daughters from previous marriages into the household: twins Mabel Grace Scott and Minerva Beatrice Scott, and Carol “Carrie” Swanhilde Knutson.

The Edward Webster House, located at 135-139 West Second Street, sits on the east ridge of Telephone Hill overlooking downtown Juneau. Photographs of Juneau from the 1880s confirm that the Webster House was among the earliest homes constructed in the area. Robert E. Hurley, the grandson of Edward and Anna Webster, owned the home when the 1984 Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey was conducted.

The Webster family owned and operated the Juneau and Douglas Telephone Company from 1893 until 1968, providing the first commercial telephone service in Alaska. The telephone company operated from the Webster home from 1915 to 1958 (DeArmond 1967; Hurley & Carrigan 1983).

Edward Webster began construction of his house in 1882, and numerous additions were made during the following seventy years (Hurley & Carrigan 1983). District Recorder records and the 1894 plat map of the Juneau Townsite show Edward Webster and Frank Bach owning Lots 7 and 8 in Block 1.

After Edward Webster’s death in 1918, his wife Anna assumed management of the company and continued operating it until her death in 1957.

Sources
Stone 1982
Alaska Monthly 1907
DeArmond 1967
Hurley & Carrigan 1983

Anna Faulkner Scott Knutson Webster was a Charter Member of Juneau Igloo No. 6.

She was born on January 29, 1867, at Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of Captain Thomas Faulkner and Elizabeth McPherson Faulkner. She was descended from a long line of seafaring men. Anna immigrated to the United States in 1888 and was naturalized in 1890.

She married her first husband, Newton Scott, on May 21, 1890, in Idaho. They had five daughters: Lucy, born on May 23, 1890, in Idaho; twins Mabel Grace Scott and Minerva Beatrice Scott, born on April 1, 1893, in Grangeville, Idaho; Ruth, born in September 1894; and Alice, born on June 13, 1895.

The family experienced several tragedies. Their daughter Ruth died on March 15, 1896. Newton Scott was killed by a falling tree while riding a horse on November 5, 1897. Lucy died on November 14, 1897, and Alice died on November 22, 1897.

Her second husband was Swan Knutson. They were married in Salmon River, Idaho, on January 25, 1899. She was widowed when Swan died on August 1, 1901. Their twin children, Clarence Knutson and Carol Swanhilde Knutson, were born in Idaho on April 5, 1902, after his death.

Anna and her three daughters, Mabel, Minnie, and Carrie, moved to Juneau in 1904, and she began her career as head of the Douglas telephone exchange in 1905.

Anna married Edward Webster, who was the President of the Juneau-Douglas Telephone Company, on August 10, 1910, in Juneau. The family moved to Juneau, and her home stood high on the hill, built before the town itself was fully laid out and planned.

The house is registered as the Edward Webster House on Telephone Hill. Robert E. Hurley, the grandson of Edward and Anna Webster, owned the home when the 1984 Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey was conducted.

Anna died on August 13, 1957, in Juneau and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery on August 16, 1957.

Sources:
Biographies of Alaska Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Vol. 3, pp. 318–320, Ed Ferrell
Idaho Marriage Licenses
1910 U.S. Federal Census, Douglas
1930/1940 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau
Douglas Island Weekly News, August 17, 1910
Alaska Death Certificate
Evergreen Cemetery Burial Record