Telegraph
Telegraph Key (right) and Telegraph Sounder (left) at the Cheshire Historical Society
Telegraph
Long before the invention of cell phones or telephones, the fastest way to send or receive messages was by telegraph — but — what was telegraph and how was it linked to Cheshire?
What was Telegraph?
The word “telegraph” comes from the Latin word “tele” which means “far away or distant” and the Latin word “graph” means “to write” which translates “to write from a distance”.
During the early 1800s, there were several attempts by many inventors to create working telegraph systems. Some of these early telegraph systems used signal flags mounted on tall towers or complicated electromechanical machines, but all of these early telegraph systems were commercial failures.
In 1844, Samuel Morse (1791-1872) with the help of Alfred Vail (1807-1859) created the first practical telegraph system. It consisted of a mechanical switch (telegraph key) which was connected by a wire to an electromagnet (telegraph sounder). When the telegraph key was pushed down, the switch sent electricity to the telegraph sounder where the electromagnet pulled down an iron bar making a “click” sound. When the telegraph key was released, the electricity to telegraph sounder would stop and the iron bar would spring back to its original position making a “clack” sound. The telegraph operator could tap-out these “click” and “clack” sounds to spell-out any letter in the alphabet as well as all the numbers. This click/clack language was known as Morse Code. By using Morse Code, the telegraph operator could send messages instantly across long distances by wire. A major reason for the success of Samuel Morse’s telegraph system was its relatively low cost by using a single telegraph wire between stations, which used the earth for the return electrical connection, as well as using simple designs for the telegraph keys and sounders. In addition, the required electricity was supplied by wet chemical batteries which were maintained by the telegraph operators.
Telegraph in Cheshire
The telegraph key and telegraph sounder shown above are on display at the Cheshire Historical Society and were manufactured by the E. F. Johnson Company in Waseca, MN. This telegraph key and telegraph sounder were similar to the type of telegraph equipment used at the Cheshire Railroad Station. The Cheshire Railroad Station was located on the west side of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and on the south side of West Main Street (Cheshire, CT) next to the Ball and Socket complex.
Cheshire Railroad Station on West Main Street (Looking South) during the 1930s
Cheshire Railroad Station on West Main Street (Looking South) during the 1940s
Former location of the Cheshire Railroad Station on West Main Street (Looking South) next to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in 2024.
The Cheshire Railroad Station was one of only nine train stations along the New Haven and Northampton Railroad with a telegraph office. The other eight stations with telegraph offices were New Haven, Plantsville, Southington, Plainville, Farmington, Granby, Westville (MA), and Northampton (MA).
The telegraph office was almost as important to the Cheshire community as having the railroad. It allowed the railroad to manage the train traffic along the New Haven and Northampton line, which was critical to prevent train collisions and to keep the trains running on-schedule. In addition to handling railroad business, the Cheshire railroad telegraph office would also send and receive messages (telegrams) for anyone in the greater Cheshire area since the telegraph was the fastest means of communications across the state as well as across the nation. Below is an 1867 map of the railroads and telegraph stations in the United States and Canada with an enlargement of the same map showing the Cheshire railroad and telegraph station (Lloyd's Railroad, Telegraph and Express Map of the United States and Canada, 1867, courtesy of the US Library of Congress). The red arrow and red circle on the enlarged map show the location of the Cheshire railroad station. If you look carefully at the map, you’ll see a light-colored “dot” indicating the Cheshire train station with a thin curved telegraph line passing through the dot which indicated that there was a telegraph station at the train station.
Lloyd's Railroad, Telegraph and Express Map of the United States and Canada (1867) [US Library of Congress]
An Enlargement of the Railroad and Telegraph Map
The use of telegraph systems began to decline in the 1930s as the popularity of telephones was rapidly increasing all across the country. It is uncertain when the telegraph office at the Cheshire Railroad Station was discontinued, but it was most likely discontinued in the 1940s or early 1950s. Unfortunately, the original Cheshire train station was destroyed by fire in 1959.
The Language of Morse Code
When Samuel Morse created his Morse Code, he used clicks, clacks, and pauses between the clicks and clacks to represent all the letters in the alphabet. For example, the letter “S” sounded like “click-clack-click-clack-click-clack” (•••) without any pauses between the sounds whereas the letter “C” sounded like “click-clack-click-clack-pause-click-clack” (•• •). Similarly, the letter “A” sounded like “click-clack-click-pause-clack” (• ─ ) and the letter “L” sounded like “click-pause-pause-clack” ( ── ). This combination of clicks, clacks, and pauses worked very well for telegraph systems using long distance wires to connect the telegraph stations.
By the early 1900s, Morse Code was evolving into a new language. Landline telegraph systems including the Cheshire station continued to use the original Morse Code. However, telegraph was now being sent by radio, and the original Morse Code was difficult to understand using a radio. To improve radio communications, the original Morse Code was modified to create the International Morse Code. Instead of metallic clicks and clacks, radio telegraph sounded more like a buzzing combination of “di” and “da” sounds. For example, the International Morse Code letter “A” sounded like “di-dah” (• ─ ) whereas the original (American) Morse Code letter “A” sounded like “click-clack-click-pause-clack” (• ─ ).
For the next several decades, American Morse Code continued to be used on landline telegraph systems throughout the United States whereas the newer International Morse Code was used for radio telegraph. One advantage of American Morse Code was that it was 5% faster to send the same message when compared to using the International Morse Code. Today, almost all landline wire telegraph systems using Morse Code have been discontinued, but International Morse Code is still being used on shortwave radio by Amateur (Ham) Radio Operators worldwide.
