The Colorado Telephone Company in Pueblo grew from property transfers beginning in 1874, when the Central Colorado Improvement Co. sold the property to Mayland Cuthbert, trustee, for $1,475, followed by sales to Horace N. Banks in 1880 for $200, to Lorenz Stumpf in 1883 for $3,000, and to C. F. Ray in 1887 for $4,500. Frederick O. Vaille introduced telephone service to Pueblo in 1880. The company was originally located at 408 North Santa Fe Avenue and moved to D Street in 1899. In 1911, its name changed to the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Co. Its most notable day of community service came on June 3, 1921, when after days of rain the Schaefer Dam broke upstream and the city was warned of an approaching flood. Female switchboard operators remained at their posts calling people downriver to warn them, saving untold numbers of lives, but they became trapped in the building. After the power failed, they moved to the third floor, played a Victrola, and danced until men in rowboats from Lake Clara rescued them. Byron Thady, the only man present, received a gold Theodore N. Vail medal for saving the company's cable records after venturing onto the flooded first floor. Josephine Pryor, the chief day operator, received a silver medal for her leadership, and the other 13 women received bronze medals. The company left the D Street building in 1954 when dial conversion was introduced, and Gary and Ida Anzuini renovated the building in 1998 with office spaces and apartments.