# @deeringestate on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DatYNBXjIyB
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/67728700-deeringestate-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/56b341b088.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-07-13T12:00:02.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Deering Estate (@DeeringEstate) — https://gondola.cc/DeeringEstate

## Caption

This #MuseumMonday we invite you to step back into the early 1900s inside the Richmond Cottage Sunroom, where our Antique Kellogg Wall Crank Telephone helps bring early Miami communications to life.

Although this is not the exact model originally used when the Richmond Cottage operated as an inn, it provides a visual of the cutting edge technology introduced by the Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Company during the late 1800s and early 1900s. These crank telephones were part of a wave of innovations that reshaped how people connected.

A similar version once served guests at the Richmond Cottage Inn, offering a much quicker way to communicate than postcards or telegraphs. Miami’s very first telephone directory even listed the Inn with the simple two‑digit phone number 78, a reminder of how new telephone service was in the region. This early adoption was especially significant because the Richmond Cottage Inn was the only hotel between Coconut Grove and Key West at the time of its opening. Having such advanced technology in such a remote stretch of South Florida underscored the Inn’s importance as both a destination and a vital link in early South Florida travel and communication.

To make a call, guests picked up the handset, turned the metal crank to signal an operator, and waited as the operator connected them by plugging in the proper cables. After the connection was made, callers held the receiver to their ear while speaking into the fixed mouthpiece on the front.

To learn more, visit the Historic Richmond Cottage Sunroom at the Deering Estate, open daily from 10 AM to 4 PM.

We are proud to be a Blue Star Museum. Active military personnel and their families can visit Deering Estate for free through September 7 (Labor Day). We appreciate your service and look forward to hosting you.

#ArtsAtDeering #MuseumMonday #DeeringEstate

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## Tags

museummonday, deeringestate, artsatdeering

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