The 1914 Marconi Radio Station Complex

The 1914 Marconi Radio Station Complex. Chatham Radio WCC – Receiving Station – Antenna Field Trail. , Imagine what it was like at the turn of the 20th century, when ships left port with no way to communicate with land. On this trail, you will walk in the footsteps of pioneers in radio technology who created a wireless lifeline for those at sea. The trail will take you through part of a 30 acre antenna field, a key feature of the station. , , The antennas consisted of wires, suspended high above the ground, oriented to receive radio waves from around the world. As you climb the hill, you will see remains of vertical supports which held the antennas. , , The earliest antennas and the receiving station here in Chatham, along with the transmitting station in Marion, MA, were built in 1914 to provide commercial radio service between the U.S. and Norway by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America. Its successor, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), put the station into service after world war one and it soon became the world's greatest coastal station.