The timeline of North American telegraphy is a chronology of notable events in the history of the electric telegraphy in the United States and Canada, including the rapid spread of telegraphic communications starting from 1844 and completion of the first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861.

Timeline

Early events

1826-27: Harrison Gray Dyar successfully experiments with electrical telegraphy but abandons the pursuit. 1836: David Alter of Pennsylvania develops a working electrical telegraph system, but never develops the idea into a practical system. Jan 1837: Samuel Chester Reid proposes that the U.S. Congress fund an optical telegraph (semaphore line) from New York to New Orleans.Hochfelder, David. The Telegraph in America, 1832–1920, p. 182 (2012) Sept 1837: Morse employs Alfred Vail to improve his telegraph from demonstration purposes for a share of future patent rights. Sept 1837: Samuel Morse files for a patent for his electrical telegraph in the United States. 6 Jan 1838: Samuel Morse sends his first public demonstration message over two miles of wire at Speedwell Ironworks in New Jersey. Morse also demonstrates his invention to the Franklin Institute and President Martin Van Buren in early 1838. April 1838: Congressman Francis Ormand Jonathan Smith proposes to give $30,000 for Morse to build a line to demonstrate the telegraph, but the bill does not pass. 20 June 1840: Morse obtains patent.Lester, C. Edwards. Our First Hundred Years: The Life of the Republic of the United States of America, p. 324 (1877) 1843 3 March 1843: The United States Congress appropriates funds for Samuel Morse to lay a telegraph line from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore.Samuel F. B. Morse Papers at the Library of Congress, 1793 to 1919 - 1840-1872, Retrieved 7 April 2017 21 October 1843: Originally Morse decided to lay his wire underground, and asked Ezra Cornell to lay the line using a special cable-laying plow that Cornell had developed. Wire began to be laid in Baltimore on October 21, 1843, but the project was stopped after 15 km of wire was laid because the line was failing. Morse learned that Cooke and Wheatstone in England were now using poles for their lines, and he decided to follow that lead. 1844 1 April 1844: Work begins in Washington on laying the line to Baltimore using poles. Gamaliel "Gam" E. Smith, Esq., an acquaintance of Samuel Morse and a lighthouse-building mason from Maine, was chosen to complete the job. He used chestnut poles of seven meters in height, and 60 meters apart. Two wires were laid, Number 16 copper wire, covered by cotton thread with shellac, and a covering mixture of "beeswax, resin, linseed oil, and asphalt.". 1 May 1844: Test of line conveys news of the Whig Party's nomination of Henry Clay for U.S. President from the party's convention in Baltimore to the Capitol Building in Washington. 24 May 1844: Morse's first message over the Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, "What hath God wrought!" is transmitted, chosen from the Bible for Morse by Annie G. Ellsworth, because she knew Morse was religious. Summer 1844: To generate interest in building a line from New York to Boston, Cornell strings short exhibition line in Boston, from School Street and over Old City Hall to Sudbury Street, which generates public interest, but no investors. Cornell then sets up a similar exhibition in New York.

Spread of telegraphic lines 1845

1 April 1845: First public telegraph office opens in Washington, D.C., under the control of the Postmaster-General. The public now had to pay for messages, which were no longer free. 15 May 1845: Morse forms the Magnetic Telegraph Company with Amos Kendall, Francis O.J. Smith, Ezra Cornell, and Orrin S. Wood, with a goal to extend the Washington-Baltimore line to New York.Huurdeman, Anton A. The Worldwide History of Telecommunications, p. 61 (2003) 16-18 September 1845: Orrin S. Wood builds a short telegraph line of about one mile from Utica, New York to the city fairgrounds (the site of that year's New York State Fair), for public demonstration.Gifford, S.B. (16 April 1901). Early Days of the Telegraph, Telegraph Age, pp. 165, 357 September 1845: Henry O'Reilly commences building line intended to extend from Philadelphia to St. Louis. Work on first segment begins in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, heading east to Philadelphia. October 1845: Samuel Colt partners with William Robinson (a New York book dealer) to form the New York and Offing Electric Telegraph Association. A line is laid from an observation tower built on Coney Island to Manhattan to get news from shipping traffic to the New York Mercantile Exchange more quickly. The first line laid across the East River from Brooklyn by Colt on October 23 or 24 quickly fails. The northern terminus of the line becomes the Fulton Ferry in Brooklyn, with news then ferried across the river. A second line across the East River at Hell Gate was operational by March 1846.Chapin, Charles L. Personal Recollections of the Early Days of the Telegraph, The Manufacturer and Builder (September 1890)Lifshitz, Kenneth B. Makers of the Telegraph: Samuel Morse, Ezra Cornell and Joseph Henry, pp. 245-46 (2017)(6 November 1845). L.I. Telegraph, New York Herald, p. 2, col. 6.(27 October 1845). Electric Telegraph, American Republican(30 May 1936). Telegraph, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, p. A86 (p 115 scan)(24 October 1845). The Offing Telegraph, New York Herald (reports that Colt succeeded in laying pipe across the river on the prior day, October 23)Brooklyn Affairs, New York Daily Tribune, p. 2, col. 6 ("Mr. Colt has abandoned his project of carrying the Offing Telegraph Wire across the bottom of the river, and it will not be carried over on poles from Fulton Ferry.")(9 April 1846). , New York Herald, p. 4, col. 6 bottom third (advertising new crossing of East River at Hell Gate)(26 October 1941). Brooklyn One of the First Cities in World to Use Telegraph, Brooklyn Eagle p. 8F (pdf p. 70) 7 November 1845: Wood builds a line from Buffalo, New York to Lockport, New York (about 30 miles) that goes into operation on November 7 - the first line opened for regular commercial business. The first message announced the electoral victory of the Whigs in Niagara County.Buffalo, N.Y., Local No. 41, Commercial Telegraphers' Journal (June 1910, Vol. 8, No. 6), p. 189.Scientific American (November 27, 1845), Vol. I, No. 11, p. 2, col. 5 near bottom ("Since the Telegraph from Buffalo to Lockport has been in operation the Lockport papers published western news twelve hours in advance of the mail.")The Magnetic Telegraph, Scientific American (December 18, 1845), Vol. I, No.1 14, p. 3, col. 4 (anecdotes about early use of Buffalo-Lockport line)(10 November 1845). The Telegraph between ..., New York Daily Tribune (reporting that line between Lockport and Buffalo "was put in operation yesterday afternoon ..." as reported in the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser on unlisted date)(18 November 1845). Magnetic Telegraph - Buffalo and Lockport, p. 1, col. 6 (reprint from November 15 Buffalo Advertiser about breaks in wire and poles being sawed down)Reid, James D. The Telegraph in America: Its Founders, Promoters, and Noted Men, p. 302 (1879)Buffalo Telegraphic History, Commercial Telegraphers' Journal, p. 189 (June 1910) November 1845: November 14, 1845 New York Herald notes another short planned line, the "Boston Marine Line", which, similar to the New York Offing Line would be a line from Nantasket outside Boston to inner Boston to transmit news from incoming ships.(4 December 1845). , New-York Daily Tribune, col. 3, near bottom ("The Magnetic Telegraph of Messrs. Hudson & Smith, from Nantasket Head to the Merchants' Exchange, is now nearly completed, and will be put in immediate operation.") In a letter to the Herald dated February 23, 1846, Ezra Cornell noted that the Boston line had not yet been put into operation.Magnetic Telegraph, New York Herald, p. 1, col 5. 24 November 1845: Line from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (about 35 miles) is completed, but not operational until January 8, 1846.Wilson, William Bender. From the Hudson to the Ohio, p. 32 (1902) November 1845: In the fall of 1845, the Magnetic Telegraph Company commences building a line from Philadelphia to New York. By early November, a 14 mile segment from Philadelphia to Norristown, Pennsylvania had been laid, and opened due to great public interest in the work.Harlow, Alvin F. Old Wires and New Waves, p. 105-06 (Summer 1844 Boston line), p. 111 (Philadelphia to Norristown), 114 (Boston to Lowell) (1936), 172 (Coney Island line)

1846 8 January 1846: Line from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Lancaster, Pennsylvania opens. The first telegram from Harrisburg to Lancaster was "Why don't you write, you rascals?", Telegraphic Historical Society, p. 118 ("rascals") The line did not yet connect to Philadelphia, and only stayed in service until March 1, 1846; Harrisburg service restarted on October 5, 1846. 20 January 1846: Philadelphia-New York line is completed to Newark, New Jersey, and to Fort Lee, New Jersey (just across the Hudson River from New York City) two days later. Direct connection to New York City is delayed due to failed attempts to extend wires across the river.Schwarzlose, Richard Allen. The Nation's Newsbrokers: The formative years, from pretelegraph to 1865, p. 44 (1989)Schwarzlose, Richard A. Early Telegraphic News Dispatches (1973), p. 6.History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Volume 3, p. 2131 (1884)Scientific American (12 February 1846), p. 2 (reporting on Albany-Utica and Philadelphia-Newark, and delay to New York due to Hudson River) 31 January 1846: Line from Albany, New York to Utica, New York (96 miles) is open.Scientific American (February 5, 1846), p. 2 col. 5 ("We are informed that the Telegraph between Albany and Utica is finished and has commenced operations. Several other lines are progressing.")14 February 1846. Magnetic Telegraph - Annihilation of Time and Space, New York Herald (note that February 19 letter to editor clarifies there is no Boston to Nantucket line - it is to Nastasket)Transactions of the Oneida Historical Society at Utica, Volumes 1-5, p. 157 (1881) 21 February 1846: Boston to Lowell, Massachusetts line opens, with Sarah Bagley (generally credited as the first female telegraph operator) at Lowell end. 22 March 1846: Boston line reaches Springfield, Massachusetts.(23 March 1846) "The Mystic Meshes" of the Union-Magnetic Telegraph, New York Herald 26 March 1846: Boston line reaches Hartford, Connecticut. 7 April 1846: The New York and Offing Company (operating its short line to Coney Island for shipping news) opens an office in Manhattan in the New York Post building. 13 April 1846: Line from Philadelphia to Wilmington, Delaware starts operations.Schartf, J. Thomas. History of Delaware : 1609-1888, Vol. II, p. 658 (1888) 1 May 1846: Boston line reaches New Haven, Connecticut about May 1. 1 June 1846: Albany-Utica extends further west to Syracuse, New York.Lee, Alfred McClung. The Daily Newspaper In America, p. 495 (1937) 5 June 1846: With completion of link between Baltimore and Philadelphia, line from New York City to Washington, D.C. by Magnetic Telegraph Company is now operational.History of the Telegraph, History Wired (Smithsonian Institution), Retrieved 16 February 2015"The" Magnetic Telegraph Company - Anniversary of its Lone, American Telegraph Magazine (April–May–June 1853) 27 June 1846: Commercial line between New York City and Boston completed by F.O.J. Smith. On July 4, the next steamer from Europe to Boston (the Britannia) arrives. Does not appear that telegraph was used, and Herald reports how news traveled from Boston to New York in 10 hours. Next steamer (Cambria) arrives in Boston on July 18 and the New York papers use the new telegraph line.