MUSEUM VISIT DETAILS

MARCONI-RCA WIRELESS MUSEUM

PRESERVING MARITIME RADIO HISTORY:  In 1914, radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi’s company built a wireless receiving station here paired with a transmitting station in Marion, Massachusetts intended to provide commercial point-to-point radio service between the United States and Norway.  Following World War One and with the intervention of the US government, Marconi’s American assets were acquired by the newly formed Radio Corporation of America.  By 1921, RCA’s Chatham station was in full operation, but now for maritime ship-to-shore service with call sign WCC.  It would soon become the busiest US coast station.  The campus, comprising 10 original buildings on 11.3 acres, has been preserved by the Town of Chatham as the Marconi-RCA National Register Historic District.  

WHAT YOU WILL SEE:  Through informative panels and interactive displays, museum visitors explore radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi’s life and legacy, the role of maritime radio in world events, ship-to-shore communication, and artifacts from Chatham Radio / WCC’s history including the actual shipboard radio from the renowned hospital ship SS Hope.  Visitors experience firsthand how a radio operator touching a Morse code key in Chatham could communicate with counterparts aboard ships sailing the seven seas, and learn about the talented and skilled people who conceived, built and operated the station.  Chatham Radio/WCC reliably linked high society, royalty, dignitaries, celebrities and humble immigrants to their loved ones and businesses.  In the Golden Age of Trans-Atlantic Ocean Liners exhibit, visitors see what it was like to sail aboard any of six memorable 20th century passenger ships such as the SS United States, famous people they might have met, and historical events they might have witnessed. 

Chatham Radio played a crucial role in winning World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic.  From 1942 through victory in 1945 it became the U.S. Navy’s top secret Station C, covertly intercepting encrypted wireless messages from enemy ships all across the Atlantic.  Station C forwarded these intercepts to Washington, D.C. for decoding, and alerted the Navy’s extensive radio direction-finding network to locate and track enemy U-boats.  In a new exhibit marking the 80th Anniversary, Can You Keep A Really Big Secret? explores this tense period in the nation’s history and the changes it brought to everyday life when Chatham became a wartime “Navy town.”

During your visit, take a few minutes to browse the unique items in our Museum Shop.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE:  Take a walk up the Antenna Field Trail, the museum’s outdoor gallery, open year-round during daylight hours.  It is a winding path through the flora and fauna of Cape Cod with interpretive signs describing the station’s antennas and history.  Some of the antennas are scaled replicas of the originals, actively used today by the museum’s amateur radio operators to communicate around the world.

For more information on the museum's Speaker Series interpretive talks, Summer STEM classes for youth, and events, please browse the remainder of our website.