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Another first: wireless transmission across the Atlantic from Table Head in Glace Bay, Cape Breton (December 15, 1902)
One year after the memorable experience at Signal Hill, a commercial transatlantic service was initiated from Glace Bay, with
a permanent coastal station linking Canada and England. Table Head was thus to become the bridgehead for wireless telegraphy
in North America.
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| Table Head station (National Archives of Canada) |
On December 15, 1902 the first transatlantic wireless message was sent west to east to Cornwall, England. It said, "Have
honour send through Times, inventors first wireless transatlantic message of greetings." Guglielmo Marconi was proving
his theory that it was indeed possible to send a message across the ocean using electromagnetic waves instead of wires.
Three months later, the London Times published its first transatlantic newscast transmitted by radio from the Glace Bay
station.
At first, wireless was used essentially for marine communications. The Marconi company rented equipments and supplied
operators to ships. In 1903, Marconi's network comprised 45 coastal stations worldwide and three major stations (in the UK,
the US and Canada, incl. the Glace Bay station). The first private radio messages were sent to Europe in October, 1907.
Marconi stations in Cape Breton
Marconi's Three Transatlantic Radio Stations In Cape Breton, by Dr. Henry M. Bradford
Station no. 1 (1902) - Table Head, Glace Bay
1902, December 15: Marconi transmits the first official trans-Atlantic wireless telegraph messages, from his new station
in Cape Breton to Cornwall, England.
Station no. 2 (1907) - Marconi Towers (Sand Lake Road), which became the main transmitting station
1907, October 15: the first trans-Atlantic wireless telegraphy (radio) service opens to the public, with the exchange of official
messages between new stations at Marconi Towers, near Glace Bay, and at Clifden, Ireland.
Station no. 3 (1913) - Louisbourg, a transatlantic receiving station, built in 1912-1913 with a similar one in Letterfrack,
Ireland
The final phase of the establishment of the first transatlantic radio communications service, and the first link in the worldwide
radio communications network that we take for granted today.
During World War 1 (1914-18), Louisbourg Radio was braodcasting to Allied Ships (VAS, Voice of the Atlantic Seaboard).
"A Short History of the Marconi Trans-Atlantic Receiving Station in Louisbourg"
To commemorate Marconi's experiences in Cape Breton:
Marconi National Historic Site of Canada
at Table Head in Glace Bay, on Timmerman St.
Exhibits on the life and inventions of Marconi at the Marconi Exhibit Centre (Interpretative Centre).
Walk the seacoast to view foundations of the stations aerial towers and transmitter buildings.
For more details:
Marconi Drive, Cape Breton
Or Route 255, renamed after Marconi. A 60-km (37-mile) paved road from Louisbourg to Glace Bay.
Approximately links the three historic Marconi station sites.
And, a technical college in Sydney, Cape Breton:
More "Cape Breton portraits" from the CBMN:
Nicolas Denys
Thomas Le Noir
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