"What Hath God Wrought”
The House and the Telegraph
/tiles/non-collection/e/ex_technology_telegraph_office_frank_Leslie_hc.xml
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
About this object
Reporters rushed to file their stories from the telegraph office in the House.

Although the telegraph eventually fell out of favor as the primary mode of communication in the Capitol, a telegraph office still existed in the Capitol complex until 2007. Morse's invention was gradually replaced by the widespread use of the telephone.
Date | Event |
---|---|
Feb. 1838 | Samuel Morse gave the first public demonstration of his telegraph machine in Washington for interested congressional Members, hoping to obtain appropriations for a long distance test. House Chairman of the Commerce Committee, Representative Francis O.J. Smith of Maine, was so impressed that he became one of Morse's business partners and lobbied on Morse's behalf. |
Mar. 3, 1843 | Congress appropriated $30,000 to test the feasibility of creating a telegraph system. |
May 1, 1844 | The first official telegraph signal—announcing that Henry Clay was nominated by the Whig Party Convention (in Baltimore) as its candidate for President—was sent along the incomplete Washington-Baltimore line from Annapolis Junction to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. |
May 24, 1844 | Surrounded by an audience of Congressmen, Samuel Morse sent the first official telegraph from the Supreme Court Chamber, then located in the Capitol, to his partner, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore. He tapped the message, "What hath God wrought!" |
May 25, 1844 | The first news dispatch telegram was sent from the Capitol to Baltimore's Patriot newspaper announcing that the House had just voted against going into the Committee of the Whole to discuss the Oregon Territory. |
June 27, 1853 | President Franklin Pierce approved plans for the new House Chamber, including the first House telegraph office, to be located near the House Post Office. |
Dec. 14, 1857 | A committee appointed to inspect the new House Chamber suggests that telegraph wires be added to the chamber's new press lobby. |
Dec. 1861 | The first official complaints are heard regarding telegraphic censorship. The House Judiciary Committee holds hearings to discuss government censorship of telegraphic news on Civil War battles. |
Circa. 1880 | Public telegraph stations, owned by the Western Union and Baltimore Ohio Companies (the two later merged) are placed in the corridors in front of the main entrance to the House side of the Capitol. |
Nov. 29, 1883 | Underground telegraph and telephone cables were laid to connect the Capitol with White House and other government departments. |
Feb. 1888 | Telegraph stations were moved from their location near the House Floor to an area outside of the press gallery. |