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West Wendover in Elko County, Nevada — The American Mountains (Southwest)
 

First Transcontinental Telephone Line

 
 
First Transcontinental Telephone Line Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 2016
1. First Transcontinental Telephone Line Marker
Inscription.
On June 17, 1914 the First Transcontinental Telephone Line was completed at this point on the border of Nevada and Utah. Construction forces of the Bell Telephone Company of Nevada and the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company met here, making the last splices in the wires which joined East and West in voice communications for the first time.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Communications. A significant historical date for this entry is June 17, 1914.
 
Location. 40° 44.165′ N, 114° 2.615′ W. Marker is in West Wendover, Nevada, in Elko County. Marker can be reached from Wendover Boulevard (Business Interstate 80) west of Aria Boulevard, on the right when traveling west. Marker is located on the Montego Bay Resort grounds, near the southeast corner of the casino, near the parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 680 Wendover Boulevard, West Wendover NV 89883, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Control Tower (approx. 0.6 miles away in Utah); Bomb Squadron Hangar (approx. 0.6 miles away in Utah); South Base Area (approx. 0.7 miles away in Utah); Operations Building (approx. 0.7 miles away in Utah); 509th Composite Group – First Atomic Bombardment
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(approx. 0.7 miles away); Atomic Mission Hangar 1831 (approx. 0.9 miles away in Utah); Base Chapel (approx. 0.9 miles away in Utah); Airmen’s Dining Hall and Barracks (approx. 0.9 miles away in Utah).
 
Regarding First Transcontinental Telephone Line. The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company was known as Mountain Bell. Mountain Bell served the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Both Nevada Bell and Mountain Bell were owned by AT&T.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. The first transcontinental telephone line and the first official telephone call across it.
 
Also see . . .
1. First Transcontinental Telephone Call (Wikipedia).
The original long distance telephone network actually started in 1885, in New York City. By 1892 this line reached Chicago. By 1911 it reached Denver, Colorado. On June 17, 1914, after affixing 4,750 miles of telephone line, workers raised the final pole at Wendover, Utah, actually on the border between Nevada and Utah state lines. Then, Theodore Vail, the president of AT&T, succeeded in transmitting his voice across the continental U.S. in July
First Transcontinental Telephone Line Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 2016
2. First Transcontinental Telephone Line Marker
1914.
(Submitted on March 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. A Transcontinental Telephone Line.
For five years AT&T had wanted to link the phone lines from one side of the country to the other. They finally found the device that could help them do it: Lee De Forest's "audions," the first vacuum tubes. As a voice signal traveled along the wires it naturally weakened. Every time it hit an audion, the signal was boosted. The first trial took place in July of 1914, when the president of the company, Theodore Vail, spoke from one coast to the other - his voice boosted in Pittsburgh, Omaha, and Salt Lake City along the way.
(Submitted on March 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

3. AT&T ushers in the cross-country call, 100 years ago. 2015 article by James Martin on CNET.com. Excerpt:
The transcontinental service was officially opened that same evening at 9:01 p.m. The first commercial call was made later that night from a man in San Francisco who called his mother.

A three-minute coast-to-coast call cost $20.70 -- nearly $400 in today's money.
(Submitted on June 17, 2023, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.) 
 
First Transcontinental Telephone Line Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 2016
3. First Transcontinental Telephone Line Marker
Wendover Boulevard in background.
First Transcontinental Telephone Line Monument image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 2016
4. First Transcontinental Telephone Line Monument
Final Pole Of The Transcontinental Telephone Line image. Click for full size.
by unknown photographer (Public Domain), 1914
5. Final Pole Of The Transcontinental Telephone Line
It was erected at Wendover Utah on the Nevada-Utah border.
Lincoln Highway Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 2016
6. Lincoln Highway Marker
Located next to marker; casino parking lot in background.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 19, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,225 times since then and 86 times this year. It was the Marker of the Week June 18, 2023. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   5. submitted on June 17, 2023, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.   6. submitted on March 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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Mar. 28, 2024