The Commercial Cable Company was founded in New York in 1884 by John William Mackay and James Gordon Bennett, Jr. Their motivation was to break the then virtual

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...

on transatlantic telegraphy and bring down prices (particularly for Bennett's newspaper empire). Their most famous ship was the CS Mackay-Bennett, named after the founders. The technology was well established by this time, and they were able to lay cables from Waterville in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to Canso, Nova Scotia, without the major technical problems of the first Transatlantic telegraph cable. Onward connections to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and beyond were initially overland and later submarine. Connections from Waterville to

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

in England and

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

in France were soon established by the submarine route after initial use of landlines from Waterville onward to mainland Britain. Commercial Cable also had a relationship with the German Atlantic submarine cable system.

Domestically the cable distributed its cable traffic through its partner firm the

Postal Telegraph Company Postal Telegraph Company (Postal Telegraph & Cable Corporation) was a major operator of telegraph networks in the United States prior to its consolidation with Western Union in 1943.Nonnenmacher, TomasHistory of the U.S. Telegraph Industry/ref> P ...

. It had a twenty-five percent share ownership in the

Commercial Pacific Cable Company Commercial Pacific Cable Company was founded in 1901, and ceased operations in October 1951. It provided the first direct telegraph route from America to the Philippines, China, and Japan. The company was established as a joint venture of three ...

that operated a cable from San Francisco to Manila and Shanghai after 1906. Together these companies were all part of the Mackay Companies, also known as the Associated Companies. John Mackay's son, Clarence Mackay, took over the firm by the early 20th century and led it during World War I. Clarence Mackay and Frank Polk, a senior State Department official, were friends and this enabled the State Department to have access to selected diplomatic traffic carried over Commercial's cables. The company flourished for a time but in 1928, together with other elements of the Mackay System, came under the control of International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) under a wholly owned subsidiary, the Postal Telegraph & Cable Corporation. This would be reorganized in 1935, with Commercial Cable becoming part of the American Cable and Radio Corporation. The undersea cables remained in use carrying telegraph traffic until 1962. In 1998, cables were briefly visible going out to sea at Waterville and are probably still there.

Buildings

The Commercial Cable Company Building was one of

early skyscrapers The earliest stage of skyscraper design encompasses buildings built between 1884 and 1945, predominantly in the American cities of New York City, New York and Chicago. Cities in the United States were traditionally made up of low-rise buildings, ...

. Constructed in 1897, it was demolished in 1954. A two and a half story Neo-Classical brick and granite building in Hazel Hill, Nova Scotia built in 1888 was the last trans-Atlantic station remaining. Despite the historic significance — the station helped send cables on the sinking of the

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that Sinking of the Titanic, sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking Iceberg that struck the Titanic, an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York Ci ...

and at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

) — it was torn down in 2017 due to safety concerns around its state of disrepair. There are plans to build a space port in the area.

References

External links

The Commercial Cable Company
*
Atlantic Cable
Hazel Hill, Nova Scotia * Winkler, Jonathan Ree

Account of Commercial Cable and other cable companies coping with war-related problems. {{Authority control Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States History of the Atlantic Ocean American companies established in 1884 ITT Inc. Telecommunications companies established in 1884 Technology companies disestablished in 1928 1884 establishments in New York (state) 1928 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies disestablished in 1928