History
The name Central Exchange is a callout to the role of both buildings in the telecommunications industry. Originally constructed in 1909 and 1911 as the Pioneer Telephone warehouse and garage, the buildings changed hands from Southwestern Bell and AT&T through a series of acquisitions during the consolidation of the telephone companies. At one point 7 NE 6th served as a telephone exchange, the building that housed the switchboard and switchboard operators that would route telephone calls. In the days of the 6-digit telephone numbers, for Oklahoma City specifically, you would first dial 23 for CE to route your call through the CEntral Oklahoma City telephone exchange, hence our inspiration for the name Central Exchange.