MassachusettsThe French Cable Station in Orleans is a one-and-a-half-story frame, clapboarded building, whose main portion was constructed in 1891 to serve as the American terminus of transatlantic telegraph cables operated by the French company La Compagnie Francaise des Cables Telegraphiques. The station's equipment was transferred from an earlier, more isolated terminus at Eastham, and in 1897-98 the company completed the first direct Atlantic cable, running some 3,173 nautical miles from Brest, France, to Orleans, then on to New York. Its interior retains much original apparatus, including the 'Wheatstone Bridge' (used to locate cable faults) and the 'Artificial Line' (which duplexed the cable), left in place when the station closed. Major news reached America through the station, and during the 1938 hurricane it provided vital communication when Cape Cod was otherwise cut off; abandoned in 1959, it was preserved as the French Cable Station Museum. It was listed for its significance in communications.
French Cable Station
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French Cable Station is a landmark in Orleans, Barnstable County. It is one of 6,558 landmarks documented in Barnstable County, among 6,897 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 41.7879, -69.9875 near Orleans. The nearest cataloged historic site is Sea Call Farm Spruce Tree Windbreak (landmark), about 0.4 miles away. Others within a short drive include Sea Call Farm Native Forest, Sea Call Farm House, and Sea Call Farm Meadow.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The French Cable Station in Orleans was built in 1890-91 by the French Cable Company as the American landing point for a transatlantic telegraph cable. By 1898 it was the terminus of a roughly 3,200-mile direct cable to Brest, France, known as 'Le Direct,' and it carried transatlantic news and diplomatic traffic for decades. The federal government took over the station during World War II and it operated until 1959, after which it was preserved as the French Cable Station Museum and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
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