DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — and friend, this one is something else. It's 1917, and the world is on fire. World War I has ground itself into a bloody stalemate, and Germany's military leaders decide it's time for something drastic.
Their plan: strike any ship in the Atlantic, any ship at all, neutral nations be damned. But they know a move that bold risks pulling the United States into the fight. So they hatch a second play, something to keep America busy a little closer to home.
Germany's Secretary for Foreign Affairs — a man named Arthur Zimmermann — signs off on a message to Mexican president Venustiano Carranza. The offer is straightforward and audacious in equal measure: financial support, and other considerations, in exchange for Mexico invading the American Southwest. Just like that, on paper, in a telegram.
Now here's where the story gets tangled in its own clever wire. Germany can't hand-deliver this message, so they go for the transatlantic cables. But Britain has already cut the German line.
Completely. So Germany is forced to route this extraordinarily secret proposal through American cables. Through American cables.
The irony there could keep a campfire going all night. On January 16th, 1917, the Zimmermann telegram is transmitted from Germany to Washington, D.C. The German Ambassador receives it there and sends it onward — and this is the part where Galveston, Texas walks right into the pages of world history.
The message travels via the Mexican Telegraph Company's Trans-Gulf Cable, which enters Galveston near 19th Street, running right beneath the seawall. And inside a small building at 1819 Avenue O, equipment relays that encoded telegram on toward Mexico City. A little building on a quiet street, carrying one of the most dangerous secrets of the century.
But somebody else is listening. British intelligence agents, monitoring messages through the U.S. Embassy in London, intercept the telegram.
They decipher it. They sit on that knowledge just long enough to make their move, and on February 19th, they hand a copy to the U.S. government. President Woodrow Wilson reads the message.
And whatever hope he had been holding onto — whatever quiet faith that a peaceful conclusion to the war might still be within reach — he sets it down. He arranges for a copy of the telegram to be leaked to the press, and just like that, public opinion shifts. The United States moves toward the war.
The allies move toward victory. All of it accelerated by a message that Germany ran through an American cable, decoded by British hands, passed through a small building in Galveston, Texas. In the years after armistice in 1918, the Mexican Telegraph Company merged with Western Union.
The Galveston office kept right on working — sixty-six years it stayed open, finally closing in 1949. When demolition threatened the building at 1819 Avenue O, it was relocated in 1995 and then restored. Somebody decided that building deserved to stand.
And knowing what passed through it, I'd have to agree.
What the marker says
In 1917, with World War I at a stalemate, German military leaders adopted an aggressive strategy to strike any ships, even those of neutral nations, encountered in the Atlantic. As part of a campaign to hinder entry of the U.S. into the war, Germanys Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Arthur Zimmerman, signed off on a message to Mexican president Venustiano Carranza offering financial support and other considerations in return for Mexico's invasion of the American Southwest. Unable to hand deliver the message to Mexico's envoy, Germany sent it via transatlantic cables, but Britain had cut the German line, forcing a reliance on American cables. On Jan. 16, 1917, the Zimmerman telegram was transmitted from Germany to Washington, D.C., where the German Ambassador sent it on to Mexico City via the Mexican Telegraph Co. Trans-Gulf Cable, which entered Galveston near 19th Street beneath the seawall. A small building at 1819 Ave. O housed equipment which relayed the encoded telegram on to Mexico. British intelligence agents, monitoring messages via the U.S. Embassy in London, intercepted and deciphered the telegram. They handed a copy to the U.S.. Government on Feb 19. Upon reviewing the message, President Woodrow Wilson abandoned hopes of securing a peaceful conclusion to the war. He arranged for a copy of the telegram to be leaked to the press, thereby helping to accelerate the U.S. entrance into the war and the eventual victory for the allies. In the years following armistice in 1918, the Mexican Telegraph Co. merged with Western Union. The Galveston office remain open for 66 years closing in 1949. To prevent demolition, the telegraph company building was relocated in 1995 and then restored. (2017)