Surf Side Cottages

04/22/2023

Yes, true! :)

02/02/2023

01/19/2022

Take a look at your cell phone. Do you ever wonder how technology evolved to the point that we can Facetime a friend in Australia, check on our front door camera, or order a pizza via Twitter in an instant? Look no further than our friend Guglielmo Marconi. On January 18, 1903, the 28-year-old inventor made communication history by sending the first public transatlantic wireless message from his station on the South Wellfleet bluffs to Poldhu, Great Britain between King Edward VII of Great Britain and US President Theodore Roosevelt. While researching station locations, Marconi read ‘Cape Cod’ by Henry David Thoreau, and determined that the Wellfleet cliff area would be an ideal location due to its high, open setting immediately adjacent to the ocean.

Marconi constructed a wireless station with four massive receiving towers and crew quarters. Following several short-range efforts and successful transmission of the letter “S” across the ocean, his transmission of the first public transatlantic wireless message in 1903 made communication history. This accomplishment paved the way for communication advancements, including ship-to-shore transmissions, radio, radar, microwaves, and cellular communication. Upon Marconi's death, all wireless around the world was temporarily silenced in his honor. No one had ever received such recognition, and no one has received it since.

While much of the site has been lost to the Atlantic, Marconi’s story lives on through commemorative radio events. If you are a ham radio operator, KM1CC will be commemorating the day through a virtual event between 9 am-3 pm on Tuesday, 1/18.

Core frequency plan+- 20 kH:
40M ...7.035 CW
30M ...10.110.CW
20M ...14.035 CW
17M ...18.080 CW
15M ...21.035 CW
10M...CW
NO FT4/FT8 or digital

Historic black and white photograph of a distant bluff with a low-lying structure and four immense radio towers.



NPS Archives

01/10/2022

Good morning from the Wellfleet Harbor loop ☀️

01/02/2022

In the chill of winter, when most tourists have migrated, you'll find professional and amateur shellfishers alike uncovering oysters from the waters of Cape Cod Bay. Correspondent Seth Doane returns home to Massachusetts, where his father, Paul, an 11th-generation Cape Codder, harvests oysters by th...

12/22/2021

Eastham’s Buoy tree built by Lisa’s late cousin.

Happy Winter Solstice! Who else is dreaming of a white Christmas? ❄️☃️ Photo by Dan Powers

09/12/2021

Just sayin'

Visiting Wellfleet, Mass.? Plan your next excursion on Cape Cod with our expert-driven travel guide to Wellfleet. Read more on Boston.com.