The line consisted of one 400 pounds (180 kg) to the mile galvanised iron wire mounted on the apex of a steel Oppenheimer pole imported from England.

[1][5][6] The overland telegraph provided important contact between the isolated communities of the peninsula, as well as a link to southern capitals via Cooktown, and played a significant role in the development of the region.

During the Second World War the overland telegraph line was upgraded and provided the principal communications link for the Allied offensive in New Guinea.

These were designed in the office of the Queensland Colonial Architect, pre-cut in Brisbane for assembly on site, and erected at Fairview, Musgrave, Coen, Mein, Moreton, McDonnell, and Paterson.

Lineman-in-charge at Musgrave, Sam Thompson, was killed in a fall from a horse in late December 1918 or early January 1919, and was buried beneath a mango tree near the station.

A wide strip of cleared land, used as car parking space and forming the southern end of an airstrip, lies between the complex and the Peninsula Developmental Road.

[1] The former Musgrave Telegraph Office is a high-set, timber-framed building with a corrugated metal-clad hipped roof over a U-shaped plan, and supported on substantial timber stumps.

The enclosed first floor verandah is clad in flat sheeting to sill height with a continuous bank of glass-louvered windows above.

Three windows with individual hoods open out of the western facade of the upper floor, which appears to be clad in corrugated iron sheeting.

[1] The extremely remote location of the station means that the property is surrounded by natural vegetation and no other residences or buildings.

[1] The former Musgrave Telegraph Station was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

The line contributed significantly to the expanding economy of northern Queensland; while no longer in use its course has been impressed upon the landscape via the length of much of the Peninsula Development Road as well as the location of the former Musgrave Telegraph Station.