Binghamton, New York: Marconi 1914 Radio Test Tower
It may look like just a rusty old tower, but it's a historical-marker-worthy rusty old tower. Erected in 1913 by radio pioneer Gugliemo Marconi.
- Address:
- 69 Lewis St., Binghamton, NY
- Directions:
- On the north side of Lewis St., just east of Chenango St. and the old railroad depot.
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Visitor Tips and News About Marconi 1914 Radio Test Tower
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Pretty neat tower with a plaque explaining what its original purpose was when it came to railroading. Halfway up the tower is a metal monkey, but it is not King Kong!
[Thom H, 08/04/2023]Your website states that there are four Marconi Towers in the United States, two in Scranton and two in Binghamton. Binghamton now only has one tower standing (not sure about Scranton). I'm an amateur radio operator, and International Marconi Day is celebrated worldwide on the Saturday closest to April 25 (Marconi's Birthday). On this day amateur operators set up their radios at sites where Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi had a footprint in radio communications and began communicating around the world.
[Theodore Klees, 04/26/2023]
It's a pretty neat tower near the equally cool Lackawanna railroad station.
[Annie, 04/09/2021]This is not the first Marconi tower in the U.S., but it is the last remaining of four original towers (two in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and two in Binghamton) built to facilitate the first-ever wireless communication to a moving train.
[allen lutins, 10/30/2015]
We spotted this on our map -- the first Marconi radio tower in the U.S. Turns out it was built in 1913 and used to determine if moving objects could receive radio signals. It was one of three built and is the only one still standing.
[Steve Cook, 05/15/2007]It has its own historical marker, so it must be historic.
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Our 2015 tip about this tower noted that it was "the last remaining" of the four original towers. So it was all alone back then, as it still is today.