Western Union microwave network survey

UPDATE: These posts were written in 2010. Since then, this site has undergone several server migrations, theme changes, and WordPress updates. The posts linked in this page are temporarily offline to correct formatting and other errors introduced over the past decade.

This page aggregates links to posts in this blog related to the Western Union Telegraph Company’s first generation microwave network built out shortly after the end of World War II. The posts are derived from articles published in various newsletters and journals based on research done between 2002 and 2008 in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and the District of Columbia.

Western Union Telegraph Company microwave network map.

Google Maps with relay sites:


View Western Union Microwave Network in a larger map

Western Union built four terminals and 21 relay sites for its system. I summarized all of the sites in an appendix to a Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) report I prepared for the National Park Service that provides an intensive investigation into one of the western Pennsylvania relay sites.The blog posts linked below are derived mainly from that appendix. The first post in this series documents the landmark terminal building Western Union built in Washington, D.C.’s, Tenleytown neighborhood.

Western Union Telegraph Company Microwave Relay Sites

Site name State County Tower Height (1947) Ownership
Delaware
Brandywine DE New Castle 100′ owned
Maryland
Severn MD Anne Arundel 120′ owned
Cub Hill MD Baltimore 100′ leased
Elk Neck MD Cecil 100′ leased
Gambrill Park MD Frederick 60′ leased
Little Savage MD Garrett 120′ owned
Sideling Hill MD Washington 100′ owned
New Jersey
Mt. Laurel NJ Burlington 100′ owned
Bordentown NJ Burlington 100′ owned
Woodbridge NJ Middlesex 100′ owned
Neshanic NJ Somerset 100′ owned
New Brunswick NJ Somerset 100′ leased
Pennsylvania
Fort Site PA Allegheny 100′ owned
Sellersville PA Bucks 100′ owned
Honey Brook PA Chester 60′ owned
Mt. Holly PA Cumberland 60′ owned
Blue Mountain PA Franklin 60′ leased
Bakersville PA Somerset 100′ owned
Allegheny PA Somerset 60′ owned
Jennerstown PA Westmoreland 100′ owned
Red Lion PA York 100′ owned

Western Union Microwave Terminals