Patricia McCreary Patricia McCreary, fascinated that St. Ignace was the third last community in the country to switch from a manually-operated telephone system to an automatic one in 1974, wrote a book about those early days.

"The Company and The Community: A History of the Telephone Company of St. Ignace and Surrounding Communities," has been published by the Michilimackinac Historical Society and is a 123-page compilation of history and photographs of St. Ignace telephone service and its switchboard operators. The book includes personal accounts from operators about their jobs, the equipment they worked with, and facilities they worked in.

"I think the history of the phone company here is very interesting," said Mrs. McCreary, "and listening and reading what some of the switchboard operators had to say about it, that was the most interesting thing to me."

She is originally from Strandburg, South Dakota, and has written five historical accounts of the schools and churches there.

"The Company and The Community" is the first to be published.

Patricia McCreary's book, published by the Michilimackinac Historical Society. It will be on sale Friday, October 17, at the historical society's

French Frog Feast fundraiser at The Galley Restaurant in St. Ignace, and Mrs. McCreary will sign copies at 7 p.m.

Telephone service was introduced to St. Ignace as early as 1884, according to Emerson Smith, author of "Before the Bridge."

In 1974, Michigan Bell moved its offices from St. Ignace to Sault Ste. Marie and the manual switchboards were replaced by automatic switches.

A section of the old board is on display at the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce.

The last two communities to use manual switchboard operators were Virginia City, Nevada, in 1975, and Catalina Island, California, in 1978.

In her book, Mrs. McCreary lists 126 former St. Ignace switchboard operators, compiled mostly by former Bell employee Gert Litzner.

"She stayed up many nights thinking and remembering names of people," said Mrs. McCreary.

Mrs. McCreary, 71, is a retired high school English teacher and also taught American English at an all-girl college in Nagasaki, Japan, for 14 years.

She moved to St. Ignace five years ago to be closer to her son, Pete.

Her next writing project will be a history of the Bethel Baptist Church in her hometown of Strandburg.