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History
In 1851, a group of New York businessmen started the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company. In 1856 the company changed its name to The Western Union Telegraph Company, symbolizing the “union” of eastern and western telegraph lines into one system, following the acquisition of a series of competing telegraph systems.
When the Civil War broke out, fast communication with the western part of the continent became essential. Poles needed to be posted and a telegraph line strung across the plains and over the rugged Rocky Mountains. Many observers believed that such a project would take at least 10 years. Western Union rose to the challenge and completed the historic line in less than one year. From those ambitious beginnings, the first national communications network was born.
Following the Civil War, westward expansion created a need to move capital, leading Western Union to introduce its money transfer service in 1871. The service accelerated when the United States entered World War I, when relatives began wiring money to soldiers throughout the United States and Europe.
As the world continued to change, Western Union kept pace with innovations of their own. In 1964, poles and wires were replaced with a microwave radio beam system. In 1982,
Western Union became the first company to have five communications satellites in orbit, extending telecommunications services to an increasing number of countries around the world.
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