1864 – Thomas Edison became a telegraph operator after he saved three-year-old Jimmie MacKenzie from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie’s father, station agent J.U. MacKenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he trained Edison as a telegraph operator. The story would have spread around the telegraph community that MacKenzie had taken […]
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Mackay Mansion
Once the residence of John Mackay, this elegant mansion also served as the office for the Gould & Curry Mining Company. Mackay, an Irish-born immigrant, was the richest man the Comstock ever produced. Built in the 1860s, this building survived the “Great Fire of 1875” and was the headquarters for Mackay, Flair, Flood and O’Brien […]
Frank Bell
Frank Bell 1840 – 1927 Early pioneer of both the telegraph and telephone. He was builder of the first telegraph lines across the Sierra’s from Placerville to Genoa then on to Virginia City. He also had the distinction of telegraphing Nevada’s Constitution to President Lincoln prior to Nevada becoming a state in 1864. Frank Bell […]