Marconi Wireless Station

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I find it interesting that in the early 1900s, four 210 foot towers were erected by the shore. The hum of the motors could be heard for miles; I wonder what the locals thought. Maybe because it was for wireless communication, this was ok.

At the station site, this bronze plaque is displayed. Construction on the Marconi Wireless Station in Wellfleet began in 1901, it was blown down that same year, and reconstructed in 1902. In 1906, engineers warned that erosion was endangering the towers, it was closed in 1917 due to new technology, and in 1920 the station was dismantled. Before being closed, among other things, it had received a distress call from the Titanic, provided communications to the passengers on the Lusitania, and was the site of the media event of the day in 1903, the transatlantic communication between President Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII of the UK.

Informational boards are nicely presented by The National Seashore to provide history and details to visitors.

A pavilion shelters this display of the original tower setup. Weather has not been good to the plexiglas, so this is the best I could do to photograph through the cloudy sides. It gives a good idea of the scope of the station; note the wires strung among the towers.

This is more readable in a larger size if you click the image. Note the bottom right corner showing the erosion which has happened. The line to the right is the end of the dune in 1903, the one in the middle detailing the change in 1993. The remains of the towers did tumble into the sea.

Down on the beach below the dunes, the remnants of the bases of two towers were uncovered by this winter’s storms.

Facing the sea, this is the tower to the left. These are where they fell, not the original placements. If you click through to the larger image, the footprints give a better perspective of the size of these blocks.

The tower on the right has more left of it.

The remains of the rear towers are still visible up on the dunes near the pavilion.

What a beautiful spot. It is a very steep 45 foot (or so) drop, and this fencing is not going to prevent much from sliding down if one gets too close.

A nicely situated viewing area by the pavilion, and one higher on a dune behind it from which water is visible on both sides, the ocean as well as Cape Cod Bay. It is such a narrow strip of land, I wonder if one day Truro and Provincetown will become an island.

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