Western Union office

2 min 5 sec

The Western Union Office was an important communication hub, receiving and sending messages for the public and for business. This 1910 telephone and telegraph office has a cluttered look, which is typical of this type of office. At one time it was located in the railroad depot, communicating messages of rail staff important to safety and efficiency. Maps on the wall show some of the railroads that operated in different parts of the country.  Though railroad traffic control was one of its earliest applications, the telegraph quickly became an important tool for transmitting news quickly around the country.

On the left wall is a plaque which says “What hath God wrought?”  These are the first words sent over the telegraph
wires by its inventor Samuel Morse, sent from the U.S. capitol in Washington D.C to his partner in Baltimore, Maryland in May, 1844.

The gas fixture at the left was used to provide light for the telegrapher. The old style open electrical wiring common in those days would certainly not be used today.
Note the interesting charges posted on the back wall for sending messages.  Two bits was a term for 25 cents. On the long table are telegraph instruments used for transmitting messages over the wires strung for that purpose.

The old Oliver typewriter was used by the operator to type messages and reports.  The large gray machine in the back is a Western Union sending and receiving device used in later years.

The first telephones came to Greenville in 1878, with one wire strung from Middleton Mills on Lafayette at the river to the D, N and L depot on the east side of town. The old telephone switchboard and operator’s chair were used locally for many years by the Gibson Refrigerator Company.  The wall telephone with the long mouthpiece, on the right, is one of the early phones that was usually connected to several other houses that became known as a party-line.  Anyone connected to that line could hear everything that was being said from another home.  Consequently, there could be little privacy, but you can be sure it was a great source for local gossip.