Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station

The Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station is a historic district at the junction of Old Comers Rd. and Orleans Rd. in Chatham, Massachusetts. It and its companion transmitter station at Marion were used for WCC, the busiest ship to shore radio station for most of the 20th century. The district includes eight red brick buildings constructed by Marconi in 1914 to house the station's operations;[2] it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and is now home to the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center museum.

This article is about the station in Chatham. For the older, nearby station in Wellfleet, see Marconi Wireless Station Site (South Wellfleet, Massachusetts). For other stations owned by Marconi then RCA, see Marconi Station.

Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station
Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station is located in Cape Cod
Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station
Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station is located in Massachusetts
Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station
Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station is located in the United States
Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station
LocationChatham, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°42′11″N 69°58′41″W
Built1914
Architectural styleBungalow / Craftsman
NRHP reference No.94000996 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 30, 1994

Station history

In 1914, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America built a station in Chatham for the purpose of providing point to point radiotelegraphy service with a Marconi station in Stavanger, Norway. Contrary to common belief, the Chatham site was not built as a replacement to the failed Marconi station in Wellfleet. With the outbreak of World War I, the Marconi company was unable to complete construction of the Chatham station. Therefore, they never put the station into service.

In December 1919, the assets of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America were acquired by the Radio Corporation of America. Under RCA, the Chatham station entered point to point service in May of 1920, providing high speed radiotelegraphy to Norway, adding service to Germany in August of 1920. Chatham was the receiver site with the transmitters located in Marion Massachusetts.

In the spring of 1921, RCA switched point to point service to a new high-power station located at Rocky Point, Long Island NY. April of 1921, Chatham Radio began high seas radiotelegraph service and became the premier ship to shore station in the United States, serving mariners of the world for over 7 decades.

After WW II, a new transmitter facility was built at Forest Beach in South Chatham. It entered service in 1948, replacing the Marion transmitter site.

Due to the requirement that all ships have satellite service by the summer of 1997, the station closed in July of 1997.

The Marconi/RCA Wireless Museum in Chatham, MA. is located inside the original 1914 operating building. The museum covers early Marconi history, ship to shore radiotelegraphy, WW II naval intercept operations and preserves the history of historic Chatham Radio/WCC.

The South Chatham transmitter site is now preserved as open space.

Historic contacts
  • 1928: communication with Richard E. Byrd's first South Pole expedition
  • 1929: communication with the Graf Zeppelin during world's first around-the-world trip by air
  • 1933: sends weather information to Charles Lindbergh
  • 1937: possible last communication with the Hindenburg prior to explosion
  • 1961: communication with Santa Maria (callsign CSAL) during hijacking

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "MACRIS inventory record for Marconi–RCA Wireless Receiving Station". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved May 8, 2014.

Media related to Chatham wireless station at Wikimedia Commons

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