Wardenclyffe Tower. What a vision. In 1901 Nikola Tesla set out to build a wireless communications station on Long Island, NY to communicate with the UK. It was to be 187 feet tall. A real monster. It would be able to send messages, facsimile, and telephonic communications. By 1907 Tesla was asking for more funding. JP Morgan said no. In 1917 the tower was pulled down and sold for scrap to help recoup some of the mounting debt Tesla was amassing.
The land was sold to a photography company and was used to manufacture photographic components for 50 years. But the main building remained intact.
A few years ago the land went up for sale. There were to major bidders: a not-for-profit who wanted to buy the land and turn it into a museum dedicated to Nikola Tesla, and a business who wanted to level the land and turn it into a strip mall.
The Oatmeal, (for his side of the story click here) a classy web comic found out about this and helped expose a crowd-funding campaign to raise the money to preserve this land as a historical site. The entire effort was a success and soon we will have our own Tesla Museum!
I was following this story a few years ago when it was fresh. I realized how close I was to such a great historical landmark and set out to travel there one weekend. Alas, life got in the way. I came across this story again a few weeks ago and got super excited. Elon Musk, Tesla Motors CEO, donated $1 million to the cause as well as promised to put a tesla motors charging station in the parking lot. What a classy guy.
As part of my dream to own a Tesla Motors car and my general obsession with N. Tesla in general, I am now renewing my committment to have a drive out to Shoreham NY, and stand at the fence, and wax poetic, and drool. More soon on Wardenclyffe Tower, pt. 2!
