Federal Telegraph Company

Federal Telegraph Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Telecommunications, Radio electronics
Founded	January 1, 1909 (1909-01-01) in Palo Alto, California, United States
Founder	Cyril Frank Elwell
Fate	Acquired by Mackay Companies in 1927; later became part of ITT
Headquarters	Palo Alto , United States
Products	Wireless voice transmission equipment, arc transmitters, vacuum tubes
Parent	International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) (from 1928)

The Federal Telegraph Company was a prominent American manufacturer and communications enterprise that played a crucial role in advancing radio communication technology throughout the 20th century. Initially concentrating on wireless voice transmission, the firm later shifted focus to rival telegraph service providers such as Western Union and eventually emerged as an important Government contractor for the United States Navy.

History

Established in Palo Alto, California in 1909 by Cyril Frank Elwell, the business began as the Poulsen Wireless Company, holding the U.S. license for Valdemar Poulsen's arc transmitter technology. It specialized in creating powerful transmitters designed for long-range radiotelegraph communication. Between 1911 and 1913, Lee De Forest and his team contributed to Federal Telegraph's developments by working on early vacuum tube amplifiers and oscillators.

In 1912, Congress allocated $1 million to establish Navy radio stations. To demonstrate the effectiveness of Federal’s equipment, Elwell transmitted messages from Arlington to the battleship USS Arkansas during its initial cruise near the Canal zone. Additional trials included unprecedented transmissions spanning over 4,500 miles between Arlington and Federal’s station in Honolulu. These successes led to contracts for supplying 100kW arc transmitters to naval installations located in the Canal Zone, Massachusetts, Texas, and Cuba.

During World War I, radio operations were placed under government control; in 1918, the Navy acquired Federal Telegraph's commercial stations for $1.6 million. After hostilities ceased, these stations were returned to their previous owners, allowing Federal to resume its activities in 1921.

In 1924, control of the company passed to Rudolph Spreckels, who appointed Ellery W. Stone as president. Stone utilized Federal’s rights to manufacture vacuum tubes based on Lee de Forest’s patents without risking infringement.

The firm was acquired by Mackay Companies in August 1927 and subsequently renamed Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company (California), becoming part of Mackay’s manufacturing division. When International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) acquired Mackay in 1928, Federal continued operating as a manufacturing branch within Mackay.

In 1931, Dr. Ernest O. Lawrence obtained an 80-ton magnet from Federal—originally intended for a canceled project in China—to advance his cyclotron research at UC Berkeley; this innovation later earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939.

By 1940, ITT’s Sosthenes Behn reorganized Federal Telegraph under direct ITT control to strengthen production capabilities disrupted by wartime European factory closures.

By mid-century, specifically in 1954, Federal Telegraph rebranded itself as Federal Telegraph and Radio Company - division of IT&T, with its research division known as Federal Telecommunications Laboratories. Both entities remained subsidiaries within ITT throughout this period.

Additional reading

• Ian L. Sanders, Cyril Frank Elwell - Trailblazer in American and European Wireless Communications, Talking Pictures, and Founder of C.F. Elwell Limited 1922-1925. Castle Ridge Press, 2013. (Covers the establishment of Federal Telegraph and Telephone Company in Palo Alto, California by Elwell.)