Morse-Vail Telegraph Key
Morse-Vail Telegraph Key
- Description
- Alfred Vail made this key, believed to be from the first Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, as an improvement on Samuel Morse's original transmitter. Vail helped Morse develop a practical system for sending and receiving coded electrical signals over a wire, which was successfully demonstrated in 1844.
- Morse's telegraph marked the arrival of instant long-distance communication in America. The revolutionary technology excited the public imagination, inspiring predictions that the telegraph would bring about economic prosperity, national unity, and even world peace.
- Object Name
- telegraph transmitter
- telegraph key
- Date made
- 1844
- used date
- 1844
- demonstrator
- Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
- Vail, Alfred
- maker
- Vail, Alfred
- Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
- Place Made
- United States: New Jersey, Morristown
- used
- United States: Maryland, Baltimore
- United States: District of Columbia, Washington
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- brass (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 3 in x 2 in x 6 3/4 in; 7.62 cm x 5.08 cm x 17.145 cm
- ID Number
- EM.181411
- catalog number
- 181411
- accession number
- 31652
- Credit Line
- from Western Union Telegraph Co.
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Electricity
- Government, Politics, and Reform
- Engineering, Building, and Architecture
- Work
- Communications
- Computers & Business Machines
- Industry & Manufacturing
- American Enterprise
- National Treasures exhibit
- Artifact Walls exhibit
- Exhibition
- American Enterprise
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.