Where are all the payphones in Michigan?
Are there any left?
Are any even still working?

With the influx of cell phones, payphones are now deemed unnecessary...or are they?

We tend to believe our cell phones will always work at our beck and call – but if you've been a longtime cell phone owner, you know that ain't the case. There have been times when someone had an emergency or had to desperately reach someone and then: dang it! My phone is dead! So whaddaya do? Look for a payphone. There are still some of 'em floating throughout Michigan ya know, and yeah, a lot of them still work.

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True, you'll see many abandoned payphones at all the common locations: street corners, outside a gas station, restaurant, bus stops, train station, highway rest areas...anywhere people walk. And yeah, there are even some that are still operating.

There are a lot of people – mostly senior citizens – who don't own a cell phone and may depend on a payphone from time to time. There's nothing more disheartening then finding  a payphone, lifting that receiver and not hearing a dial tone...even after you've wasted your change. Payphones come in handy if you're staying at a campground, where you may not be able to charge your cell. Payphones are still used in our prisons, too.

Now you see most payphones taken over by bushes, vines and weeds...or vandalized by ripping out the change box...or a booth with various pieces missing or no phone at all.

The payphone may have been thwarted by tech gadgets, but darn it, we still need 'em. In the mid-1980s there were approximately 60,000 payphones in Michigan. By the mid-2010s there were 1,400 reported...and not all of them worked. By now, there are even less. To get an accurate number (well, as close as it can be, anyway) of remaining phone booths in Michigan, check out this website.

Now take a look at some old payphones in the gallery below.

Payphones: How Many Are Left in Michigan?

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