Alta California Telegraph Company facts for kids
The Alta California Telegraph Company was an early company that helped people send messages across California using a machine called a telegraph. This was before the big Transcontinental Telegraph line connected the whole country!
The company started in July 1852 and officially became a company in January 1854. That same year, they began building their first telegraph line. It stretched from Sacramento to Marysville and even went up into the Sierra Nevada mountains. Later, they built another line connecting Sacramento to Benicia. From Benicia, a smaller line went to Vallejo and the US Navy base at Mare Island.
The main offices for the company were in San Francisco and Sacramento.
Connecting to San Francisco
In July 1856, the company finished a telegraph line between San Francisco and Sacramento. This line had to cross water twice, using special underwater cables, first at the Carquinez Strait and then at San Francisco Bay. These underwater cables often caused problems and eventually stopped working. So, in 1857, the company decided to build a new connection using poles around the bay instead of underwater cables.
The underwater cable under the Carquinez Strait was replaced at least once. In April 1859, the company put down a new cable covered in iron.
Telegraph Road
The company's telegraph line crossed the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Martinez. From Martinez, a connecting line was built to Oakland over the Berkeley Hills. This line followed a path that became known as "Telegraph Road." Today, this road is called Telegraph Avenue in Oakland and Berkeley.
Company Challenges
The California State Telegraph Company had a special agreement from the California government. This agreement gave them the only right to send telegraph messages between San Francisco and Marysville. When the Alta company built its line into San Francisco, the State company sued them. This legal fight lasted until 1863, when a court decided that the State company's special agreement was valid.
Both the Alta and State companies used telegraph machines based on Samuel Morse's inventions without asking for permission. Eventually, the State company bought the exclusive right to use Morse's invention in California. After that, the State company and Samuel Morse sued the Alta company for using the technology without permission. In July 1860, a court ordered the Alta company to stop using Morse's invention. People thought this would lead to the two companies joining together.
Joining Forces
Soon after the lawsuit about Samuel Morse's invention, the Alta Telegraph Company decided to merge with the California State Telegraph Company. Later, the California State Telegraph Company itself became part of a much larger company called Western Union, which operated across the entire country.
