October 24, 1861 – First Transcontinental Telegraph Message

On October 24, 1861 – this day in history – the first transcontinental telegraph system was completed by Western Union, making it possible to transmit messages from coast to coast. Telegraph lines had previously existed only as far west as St. Joseph, Missouri. Beginning in July, 1861, work was undertaken to extend the line to Sacramento, California.

On the evening the system was completed, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C.

President Lincoln used the telegraph extensively during the Civil War, and as ThoughtCo points out, this marked the first time in history a commander in chief could communicate, practically in real time, with his commanders.

There were other important repercussions as well.

As the Library of Congress notes:

This technological advance, pioneered by inventor Samuel F. B. Morse, heralded the end of the Pony Express. Only two days later, on October 26, the horseback mail service that had previously provided the fastest means of communication between the eastern and western United States officially closed.”

Early telegraph machine, via Virginia Museum of History & Culture