Telegraph Key
Telegraph Key
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- Description (Brief)
- Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The operator pushes the key’s lever down briefly to make a short signal, a dot, or holds the lever down for a moment to make a slightly longer signal, a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. This key has a switch on the side called a circuit-closer that takes the key off-line when not in use. The straight lever was used in the mid nineteenth century. This key was used in the 1870s on the Railroad Overland Telegraph Line.
- Object Name
- telegraph key
- date made
- 1869
- used
- United States: California
- Physical Description
- brass (overall material)
- rubber (handle material)
- Measurements
- overall: 3 in x 3 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in; 7.62 cm x 8.89 cm x 16.51 cm
- ID Number
- EM.231787
- catalog number
- 231787
- accession number
- 43532
- Credit Line
- from A. E. Roome
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Electricity
- Communications
- America on the Move
- Telegraph Keys
- Transcontinental Railroad
- Exhibition
- America On The Move
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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