Commercial Cable Company

The Commercial Cable Company was founded in New York[1] in 1884 by John William Mackay and James Gordon Bennett, Jr. Their motivation was to break the then virtual monopoly of Jay Gould on transatlantic telegraphy and bring down prices (particularly for Bennett's newspaper empire).

John Mackay's son, Clarence Mackay, took over the firm by the early 20th century and led it during World War I. Clarence Mackay and Frank Polk, a senior State Department official, were friends and this enabled the State Department to have access to selected diplomatic traffic carried over Commercial's cables.

The Commercial Cable Company Building was one of New York City's early skyscrapers.

A two and a half story Neo-Classical brick and granite building in Hazel Hill, Nova Scotia built in 1888 was the last trans-Atlantic station remaining.

[2] Despite the historic significance — the station helped send cables on the sinking of the RMS Titanic and at the end of World War I) — it was torn down in 2017 due to safety concerns around its state of disrepair.