In October of 1864, a group of workers was working its way steadily north along Military Road, installing the poles and telegraph wires that would connect Seattle at last to the rest of the world. Back then, they called it “tied by lightning!” — and everyone was thrilled with the prospect of being able to stay in closer touch with relatives or business associates back East.
In October 2014, we celebrated 150 years of the arrival of the telegraph with a series of events along Military Road in South King County. Kevin Saville, president of the Seattle-Tacoma chapter of the Morse Telegraph Club, installed hands-on telegraph demonstration stations in Federal Way, Kent, SeaTac and Tukwila that were be hosted by the local historical societies. This series of site-specific telegraph demonstrations was made possible with the support of 4Culture. For more information about this project, contact info@sococulture.org.