place

Clifton Field

Airports in Barnstable County, MassachusettsDefunct airports in MassachusettsWellfleet, Massachusetts

Clifton Field was an airfield operational in the early-20th century in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Clifton Field (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Clifton Field
Old King's Highway,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Clifton FieldContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.883977777778 ° E -69.970916666667 °
placeShow on map

Address

Old King's Highway

Old King's Highway
02651
Massachusetts, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places

Marconi Beach
Marconi Beach

Marconi Beach is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The beach is named for Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi. In 1903, the first transatlantic wireless communication originating in the United States was successfully transmitted from nearby Marconi Station; a message from U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The beach was also used by the former Camp Wellfleet for artillery and rocket testing. There is a broad, sweeping view of the Atlantic Ocean and Cape Cod Bay from the overlook atop the steep sand cliff above the beach. The National Park Service has built a display on-site that describes the history of wireless telegraphy, though parts have been removed due to beach erosion. During the summer season, restrooms and outdoor showers are available to beachgoers, along with on-site parking and access from the nearby bike trail via a two-lane road. Admission is charged for vehicles and pedestrians at the rate for all Cape Cod National Seashore beaches.Marconi Beach is popular among locals and tourists for surfing and boogie boarding. It is one of five Cape Cod national seashore beaches that are on the ocean side of the Cape, generally providing a better surf than beaches on the bay side. Low tide exposes a fairly flat stretch of beach, making it also popular for skimboarding.Grey seals can frequently be seen in the waters at Marconi, frequently confounding the efforts of surfcasters to land the bluefish and striped bass cruising beyond the breakers during the summer and fall.At nighttime, the park is Bortle Scale Class 3, making it a popular stargazing site for those in Eastern Massachusetts.

Marconi Wireless Station Site (South Wellfleet, Massachusetts)
Marconi Wireless Station Site (South Wellfleet, Massachusetts)

The Marconi Wireless Station Site in South Wellfleet, Massachusetts, is the site of the first transatlantic wireless communication between the United States and Europe, on January 18, 1903. At this location, now part of the Cape Cod National Seashore (though no admission is charged if not visiting Marconi Beach), inventor Guglielmo Marconi erected a large antenna array on four 210-foot (64 m) wooden towers, and established a transmitting station powered by kerosene engines that produced the 25,000 volts of electricity needed to send signals to a similar station in Poldhu, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The first transmission received in North America by Marconi was at Signal Hill, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in 1901; Glace Bay, Nova Scotia was the site of the first such two-way transmission, in 1902.One of the station's most notable roles occurred with the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912. Operators at the station were able to alert the RMS Carpathia so that the rescue of some of the Titanic's passengers could be effected. The station was shut down in 1917 in part over concerns about its use in World War I, but also because its towers were threatened with erosion. In 1920, usable materials and equipment were removed from the site, and it was abandoned. Erosion has taken its toll over the years since then, and there was little left as of the date of the National Park Service brochure. No trace of the site remains as of September 2014; the sea has claimed it all. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.