First Electric Telegraph National Historic Event

The inauguration of the first electronic telegraph was designated as a national historic event in May 1925

Historical importance: Line from Toronto to Queenston carried first message in 1846

Commemorative plaque: 93 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario

19 December 1846 marked the inauguration of the telegraph in Canada. This major development in communications was pioneered by the Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company whose line then being built between Toronto and Queenston carried the first message, from the mayor of Toronto to his Hamilton counterpart. To most Canadians the early telegraph was an expensive novelty but both the press and business soon adapted it to their use. In 1852 the successful but limited Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara enterprise was bought by the larger Montreal Telegraph Company.