Hung up for good: L.A.'s payphones fade into history
They used to be everywhere. At gas stations, in restaurants, sometimes just standing alone on a street corner.
Aside from their utility, for decades payphones played a role in popular American culture, from comics (think Clark Kent changing into Superman) to music (think Maroon 5's brutal 'Payphone' or, from an earlier time, the Jim Croce tearjerker 'Operator').
About a decade ago, there were 27,000 payphones in California, with 2,100 in L.A. County. Now, according to the California Public Utilities Commission, there are just 2,525 working public payphones left in the state. L.A. County has 484 of them. L.A. City has just 149.
Payphones can still be found all over — they're just not working. But they are reminders of an earlier time, when it was important to keep coins — another relic of a bygone era — in your pocket.
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