We Visit the Marconi Monument in Wellfleet - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli
Monday, September 20, 2021
Any time we have a chance to go to Cape Cod, we do. We went last weekend to hear an artist friend speak of his work at a gallery in Wellfleet (more on that in an upcoming essay).
The light’s angles on this crisp, clear, cloudless day reminded us that Fall is near. Our casual ride in unusually light traffic allowed us to enjoy the scenery, passing clusters of iconic little cottages along the way.
As our car arched over the Sagamore Bridge, I had a brief look at the marvel of the one-hundred-year-old Cape Cod Canal; frosty light jumping softly off the water’s cobalt surface. Because I was driving, I had only brief glimpses of this engineering marvel. The Sagamore’s lanes are narrow, and I have a fear of heights, so, beautiful, or not, engineering wonder or not, I was eager to arrive on the other side and flat land.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe quaint, seaside town of Wellfleet is brimming with history, and it was that history we sought after our gallery experience of the evening before. On Saturday morning we eagerly traveled to the Marconi Station Site on the Wellfleet shore. Having visited the two monuments to Guglielmo Marconi in Rhode Island and The Marconi Museum in Chatham, MA, we were delighted to experience the site where he first transmitted a wireless signal across The Atlantic Ocean.
Because of its elevated, barren landscape, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi chose this area to set up his station. Beach erosion over the past one hundred years has flattened the structures and washed them to sea. Historic markers outline the site.
The day and the place were stunning. We stood adjacent to the spot where, in 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt sent the first wireless transmission in Morse Code to King Edward VII of England.
Marconi’s fires generated a massive power of 25,000 volts with terrifying discharges of electricity. As I turned to absorb the quiet and the scenery, I wondered what that blast sounded like, because on this day, all we heard was the perseverating humble roars of the Atlantic and the calls of the shorebirds.
The shoreline’s irresistible and unique natural beauty harbored long white-sand beaches, dunes, and lush marshes teeming with wildlife. Beach grasses, pitch pines, piping plovers and terns surrounded us. Walking trails invited us. A bike enthusiast stopped to chat. “It never gets boring.”
Wireless telegraphy of 1903 had me thinking about the transmission of messages today, not with huge fires generating power converted to electricity on a beach, but with the silence of the cell phone. How ironic that Diane was taking pictures with her phone, a handheld device that, if she wished, could transport those photos to Europe in seconds . . . less than a century from wireless telegraph to wireless internet
Marconi rocked the quiet of south Wellfleet. The surroundings and the phone did it silently. Fabulous scenery combined with compelling history made the day one of our better Cape experiences.
Dr. Ed Iannuccilli is the author of three popular memoirs, “Growing up Italian; Grandfather’s Fig Tree and Other Stories”, “What Ever Happened to Sunday Dinner” and “My Story Continues: From Neighborhood to Junior High.” Learn more here.
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