Since its inception more than 115 years ago, Verizon has gone through numerous evolutions.

The company evolved from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), which was formed in 1885. From 1927 to 1984, the firm was incorporated as New Jersey Bell Telephone Company and was a subsidiary of AT&T.

In 1929, New Jersey Bell (NJB) moved into its new headquarters at 540 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. Today the company still calls Broad Street its home. On January 1, 1984, when the federal court-ordered divestiture of AT&T took effect, NJB became a wholly owned operating company of Bell Atlantic Corporation, one of the seven so-called "Baby Bell" holding companies. The company continued to use the name New Jersey Bell until 1994, when it was changed to Bell Atlantic-New Jersey (BA-NJ).

In August 1997, Bell Atlantic acquired Nynex, creating the second largest telephone company in the United States. In 1998, Bell Atlantic announced its plan to merge with GTE. On April 3, 2000, Bell Atlantic and GTE selected "Verizon" as the new name of the combined company. On June 30, 2000, Bell Atlantic and GTE completed their merger, creating Verizon Communications, a formidable new competitor in global communications.

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