Bobbie “BW” Gallagher stands next to the phone, which helped make the first 911 call in Haleyville, Ala. (Photo Provided)

BELPRE — Belpre Noon Rotary members received a vivid account of the creation of the nation’s 911 emergency number Wednesday afternoon, as Rev. Father John R. Gallagher — formerly of St. Michael’s Parish in Vienna — described the national rollout and his father’s unexpected role in helping the first 911 call reach the switchboard in Alabama.

Gallagher, introduced by Rotary member Jackie Poole, said the idea for Wednesday’s presentation began years ago.

“They had asked me to speak back in July of 2020,” he said. “Well, now that I’m retired, I don’t have anything going on, so I’m glad to share it with you.”

He outlined how federal safety officials in the late 1950s and 1960s pushed for a universal emergency number. But when AT&T announced in 1968 that 911 would be implemented nationwide, Gallagher said his father — Bobbie “B.W.” Gallagher — immediately saw an opening.

“One day, while he was sitting there reading the Wall Street Journal, he saw the article about AT&T developing the 911 system,” Gallagher said. “He thought he could beat them to the finish line by switching over a small independent telephone company in the little town of Haleyville, Alabama.”

Father John Gallagher shares the history of the first 911 call in the U.S. at Wednesday afternoon’s Belpre Noon Rotary meeting. (Photo Provided)

B.W. Gallagher had worked his way up in the telephone industry after serving in the Army and the Marine Corps, first as a lineman and later as a manager for Continental Telephone Company. Gallagher said his father knew the independent system well enough to make quick changes that the large corporation could not.

“He figured they could go in there and switch a couple of things around,” Gallagher said. “The telephone company was about as big as this room. They beat AT&T.”

That work led to the nation’s first 911 call on Feb. 16, 1968.

“Senator Rankin Fite picked up the red telephone and it was answered at the police station by U.S. Congressman Tom Bevill,” Gallagher said. “That Haleyville 911 system is still in operation to this very day.”

Members asked how routing works now, especially when calls reach dispatchers across county or state lines. Gallagher explained that modern systems rely heavily on digital switching and satellite routing.

Bobbie “BW” Gallagher stands just outside of Haleyville, Ala., where he helped the first-ever 911 call take place. (Photo Provided)

“You dial 911, and you’re going to get someone who can deal with an emergency situation,” he said. “They’ll call the police, or the ambulance, or whatever you need.”

Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com