If you had to guess which year the United States had the greatest number of pay phones, would you guess the 1970s or the 1980s?

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Canva / TSM Illustration
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Try 1999. That was the peak of the pay phone in America with 2.1 million across our landscape. It became an endangered species so quickly that by 2018 the FCC stopped requiring audits for them.

So it’s impossible to say with certainty how many are even left. In New Jersey, the demise of the pay phone happened at such a rapid pace that between 2000 and 2016 we went from having 95,781 to only 3,517. That’s a 96.3% decline.

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Canva / TSM Illustration
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And that was nine years ago. Does anyone think there are any survivors?

One year ago in the entire city of Philadelphia enthusiasts who track this sort of thing (yes some enthusiasts are a bit obsessed with this outdated technology) said there were 35 working pay phones left in the city. So in a state of 9 million, there must be some…somewhere?

But where?

I’m putting out a challenge just for fun. The first part of this challenge is to even find a pay phone. Sure, you may find the old casing with an NJ Bell logo mounted to a pole but no phone inside. Or you may find a phone riddled with graffiti and a hanging cord with splayed wiring where the handset once connected. Things like this.

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Canva / TSM Illustration
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But can anyone find a phone? Then check if it has all its parts.

Then test it. Do you hear a dial tone? How much would a local call cost on a pay phone in 2025?

Years ago in 2011 when my daughter was four and my son was six I had them at Union County Park. There was a small building housing restrooms not far from the Clark entrance. There on the wall was a pay phone and I could not resist the temptation of picking up the handset to see if it was still operational.

It was! There was a dial tone. The kids asked to hear it. They were mesmerized and it occurred to me that since I was a cell phone-only household since the older one was born they had never heard a dial tone before. I felt ancient.

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Canva / TSM Illustration
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So I’m dying to know, can anyone find an actual working pay phone left in the state of New Jersey? Give me some solid proof and I’d be happy to publish your videos and pictures. You can always message right through the New Jersey 101.5 app. It also makes it stupidly simple to send in pics or videos.

Meanwhile, check out this ranking of states by how quickly their pay phones disappeared.

LOOK: The decline of pay phones in every state

Spokeo used data from the Federal Communications Commission to explore the fall of pay phones across the United States.  

Gallery Credit: Stacker

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Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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