Credit: Matthew Raifman

The journey that led me to the phone booth was a bit interesting. Late one night, I came across a stock image of a phone booth, saying that it was in SF, somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge. The photo showed a phone booth up against a wall, with a parking meter to the left and an air pump to the right, leading me to believe it was in a parking lot. I immediately started scouring the area for a parking lot with a wall or building, with perhaps a service station and air pump. I had found a parking lot that fit the description: Battery Cranston Rd parking lot, near the Golden Gate Bridge. Going onto Google Street View revealed the very same photo of the phone booth, which was still there as of 5 months ago, when the photo was taken. The next day, I rode a bus to that parking lot. Where I came across a beautiful sight; the phone booth was still there, in all its 1980s glory.

Stepping into the phone booth was like stepping into a time capsule. The phone was operated by PTS (the biggest payphone operator in the US), which was a promising sign. I lifted the handset, and there was sadly no dial tone. I tried fiddling with the hookswitch, which felt loose, and after a minute, the dial tone returned. I was ecstatic, seeing as there was still a functional payphone booth in my city. I dropped in 2 quarters (the cost of a local call) and dialed my dad, upon which I received a busy signal. I tried several more times until the phone ate all my quarters. After that, I tried using my phone card. I had to try using the phone card 3 times until my mom picked up. We had a good long chat for about 10 minutes, but then my bus was about to arrive. I snapped a few more pics and caught the next bus. 

The booth was dirty, with a little bit of graffiti, but overall in great condition. The door's sliding track was broken, but it still closed and wasn't much of a problem. All the glass and metal panels were still fully intact, which was surprising as I was expecting many cracks and dents. The interior light was even on! My favorite part was the various phone numbers scratched into the aluminum pillars. Someone even played a game of tic-tac-toe. One unfortunate thing is that looking back on Google Maps 7 years ago, there was still a phone book and a table, which would have been cool to see.