Some of the first telegraphs were made in the late 1700s, but these were hard to use because they had too many wires.
Telegrams first became popular in the mid-1800s. In 1844Samuel Morse built a single-wire telegraph line fromBaltimore toWashington, D.C.. This was much easier to use than the earliest telegraphs, which used many wires. Soon there were telegraphs all over the United States.
By the end of the nineteenth century, atransatlantic telegraph cable had been laid.Radio telegraphy became widespread in the early 20th century, especially on ships.
After the 1930s, long-distancetelephone calls became less expensive than telegrams. Telegrams became less and less popular. Western Union, an American company created for telegrams, sent its last one in 2006.[1]
See the main article:Telegram
In the mid-1800s, people communicated across long distances by writing letters. However, letters could take a long time to cross the country. Telegrams were much more convenient than letters because they could be delivered to faraway places immediately. This made it much easier for people to communicate and to move to theWestern United States.[2]
To send a telegram, a person would give their message to a telegraph operator, who would send the message to another operator message usingMorse code. The second operator would write down the message and give it to the person who received it.
