First Continental Telephone Line

On June 17, 1914, near Wendover on the Utah–Nevada line, two crews stretching wire toward each other from opposite coasts made their last splice — and for the first time a voice could travel by telephone from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Bell company of Nevada had built east, the Mountain States company west, and they met here in the desert. The ceremonial first coast-to-coast call would come a few months later, but the continent was physically joined in speech at this lonely spot on the salt flats' edge.

What the plaque says

On June 17, 1914, the first transcontinental telephone line was completed near this point on the border of Nevada and Utah at Wendover. Construction forces of the Bell Telephone Company of Nevada and the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company met there, making the last splices in the wires which joined East and West in voice communications for the first time.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bonneville Salt Flats — 0.4 mi
  A blindingly white desert where land speed records are born

More markers nearby

• Bonneville Salt Flats — 0.3 mi
• Historic Wendover Airfield — 7.2 mi
• Tree of Life — 16 mi
• Pilot Peak — 20 mi