Online School Event – Telegraphy and Morse Code with Heritage Park

Discover the fascinating world of telegraphy and Morse code, a language of dots and dashes that once connected communities across North America!  

In this interactive online session, students will explore how Morse code was invented in the 1840s, how it was used by railroads and telegram operators, and why it’s important to keep this history alive today.

Recommended for Grades 3 - 6

Q&A Padlet Link

A Teams link will be included in the reminder emails to follow, but it can also be found on the Eventbrite registration page under 'Access Link.'

*DO NOT use @educbe.ca email addresses for registration because they cannot accept third party emails.

If you have any questions about this virtual school event, please email schoolsupportlibrarian@calgarylibrary.ca

History and Raison d’Être of the Heritage Park Morse Telegraph Club

A Morse Telegraph Club was formed for Heritage Park Railway Days in 1988, American Morse telegraphy, also called landline or railway telegraphy, was presented at Midnapore Station for the first time by a few retired telegraph operators. By 1990 telegraph operation on the Park had been expanded to include both Laggan and Shepard stations. Telegraph operation at Heritage Park has had as many as two dozen former railway and commercial telegraph operators slinging Morse lightning from point to point.

Through time much has changed in the telegraphy community. Many former telegraphers had aged out or passed away and only four remained to carry on the Telegraphy language at Heritage Park. To ensure the telegraphy language remained and is preserved a group was formed in November 2019, as the Heritage Park Morse Telegraph Club.

The Heritage Park Morse Telegraph club initially enjoyed the mentorship of several retired telegraphers, all of whom were members of the Calgary chapter of the Morse Telegraph Club, an international non-profit association working to preserve American Morse telegraphy for its technological and historical significance. By 2021 club members had developed their skills sufficiently to demonstrate Morse telegraphy outside of the usual Railway Days only offering. In another year Morse telegraphy was being heard two days per week during the regular season. In 2024 the club sent telegrams to Santa Claus for the first time in the Heritage Park’s history.

Having been mentored by members of the Morse Telegraph Club, and following their lead in taking Morse to the masses, members of the Heritage Park Morse Telegraph Club worked with Heritage Park’s Education Team to develop a telegraphy training program for youth in late 2023. Participants came from summer camp attendees who had expressed an interest in learning more about all things Morse. The initial junior telegraphy program yielded five graduates who participated in the telegraphy efforts during Railway Days 2024. A second training program yielded another graduate who later joined the Calgary chapter of the Morse Telegraph Club and became the youngest person to have ever joined that organization. A third round of the junior telegraphy program happened in November of 2025. Stay tuned for the next opportunity.

Not being content with just keeping the Morse fires burning locally, club members are now rolling out the Alberta MTC line project, an initiative bringing live Morse telegraphy to museums all over Western Canada. Coupling a museums existing telegraph equipment with a small Linux based computer and a Wi-fi connection to the internet, participating museums are part of a wider telegraph community, much like train stations and commercial telegraph offices once were from coast to coast.

With a successful junior telegraphy training program and a growing museum presence the Morse outreach initiative and the future of the Heritage Park Morse Telegraph Club looks very bright indeed as we keep this language alive.