Old Telegraph Road — Bellingham, WA
Posted by: 
Dunbar Loop
N 48° 47.060 W 122° 29.121
10U E 537804 N 5403609
In the mid-18th century telegraph boom the Collins Overland Telegraph was building the West Coast of North America portion of the New York to London overland line. It was never completed when the first trans-Atlantic line was finished.
Waymark Code: WME2RT
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 03/26/2012
Views: 11
In the heady period following the introduction of the telegraph as commerical developed by Samuel Morse, telegraph lines quickly ran across North America and in Europe. Being the equivilant of the Internet of its day, the telegraph suddenly allowed messages to be transmitted within minutes over distances that required weeks to cover.
In a bold move to link New York to London, Western Union spent $3,000,000 in 1865-1867 to build this line. However the money was spent on a line that was never completed. In 1867 the first trans-Atlantic underwater telegraph line had been completed.
However, the Collins Overland Telegraph left its mark in northwest Washington and throughout British Columbia. In these regions you can find Telegraph Roads, including this one in Bellingham, that tell the traveller of its origin. And in northern British Columbia there is a community called Telegraph Creek where the line was abandoned with the completion of a more direct line between New York and London under the Atlantic Ocean.
OLD TELEGRAPH ROAD
Penetrating northward through this point, toward wilderness areas of British Columbia and Alaska, a telegraph line was partially built in 1865 - 1867 to connect New York with London via a Bering Strait cable and a line across Russia a single-wire pole line followed a fifty-foot clearing through heavy forests and across frozen tundra. Western Union Telegraph Company dropped this project abruptly in 1867 when satisfactory trans-Atlantic cable service was established. Russian-American co-operation in building this line faciltiated our purchase of Alaska in 1867.
Erected by - Historical Sites and Markers Commission
State Parks Commission