On December 23,1899, Brentwood got its first telephone when a magneto and switchboard were installed in John McLeary’s general store on First Avenue. Mr.McLeary was an architect and builder who came to Brentwood around 1897.He designed and built the parsonage of the Presbyterian Church, and was the village postmaster from 1905 to 1910.

McLeary was one of the first three people in Brentwood to have telephone service. The others were Dr. William H. Ross and Peck’s Farm. The telephone exchange moved from Brentwood to Central Islip in 1905. But four years later it moved again, to the home of Platt R. Hubbs on Pineville Road and it subsequently went to the home of his son Raymond B. Hubbs on Suffolk Avenue. Raymond’s wife was its manager for fourteen years.

Brentwood had eight telephones in 1900.  Over the years, that number increased to 46 in 1920, 128 in 1930, 398 in 1940, and 1,112 in 1949. A new telephone building was constructed on Caleb’s Path in 1939. At that time, the old-fashioned crank telephones were finally replaced by a dial phone system. The building served Brentwood and Central Islip, as well as Pilgrim and Central Islip hospitals, for many years.

-N.Ziino, Local History Newsletter, May 2008