French Cable Hut
E of N. Eastham at jct. of Cable Rd. and Ocean View Dr., North Eastham, MAIn 1869, the French Atlantic Cable Company laid a telegraph cable from Brest, France, to St. Pierre, Miquelon, and on to Duxbury, Mass., the first time an Atlantic cable reached U.S. shores. Cyrus Field's Anglo-American Telegraph Company absorbed this French Company in 1873.
A second French Company laid a cable in 1879 from Brest via St. Pierre to a new North Eastham, Mass. station on this spot (or in this immediate area). This hut, all that remains of the old station, was presumably built about 1891.
Due to the isolation of the North Eastham Station, the Station's facilities (but not the big building) was moved to Orleans, Mass. in 1891 and operated until 1959. However, the St. Pierre cable, which ran through this hut to Orleans, was abandoned in 1932. old pieces of this cable may be seen on the cliff side (Ocean side) today, and ends of the cable still lie under the floor of the hut.
This small cottage, now NPS property, will be a valuable adjunct to interpretive use in the area which contains other historical elements (lighthouses and USCG activities) besides the cable.
Preceding Marconi's wireless station on Cape Cod (1903) by some 24 years, the French Cable performed a valuable service in communications, both before and after wireless. The French Station in Orleans is now the French Cable Museum, and this N. Eastham hut is a direct link with the fine museum to the south.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.