On January 18, 1903, the first public two-way wireless communication between Europe and America occurred. Communiques between President Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII were translated into international Morse Code at the South Wellfleet and English stations and were broadcast.

For fifteen years the South Wellfleet spark-gap transmitter continued in commercial use. Skilled telegraphers sent out messages at the rate of 17 words a minute and station CC (Cape Cod) served , in effect, as the first “Voice of America.” Because of the sea cliff was eroding at the rate of 3 feet per year, the South Wellfleet Station closed in 1917.

You can still go to the Marconi Station in South Wellfleet and see the original wireless. And you can go out on the cliff on a cold winter day and reflect on the event that sparked the birth of global wireless communication.

If you have never been to the National Seashore Visitors Center in South Wellfleet, it is well worth the trip for the whole family. What a piece of history!