Previous Q & A | Next Q & A | Questions | Table of Contents 

What year would you consider as being the Wardenclyffe Centennial?

In June 1902 Tesla shifted his center of operations from the Houston Street laboratory to Wardenclyffe, so it can be said the Wardenclyffe laboratory was activated or opened in that year.  By early 1903 the mushroom-shaped dome on top of the tower was just nearing completion, but cash was running short. In April Tesla wrote Morgan, ". . . you have raised great waves in the industrial world and some have struck my little boat. Prices have gone up in consequence twice, perhaps three times higher than they were. . . ."  In July, Morgan turned down Tesla's repeated requests for additional funding and onset of the "Rich Man's Panic" that Fall further aggravated the situation.  Tesla seems to have made it through 1904 okay, but in May 1905 his fundamental patents on ac motors and power transmission, assigned to the Westinghouse Company, expired, bringing an end to his royalty payments.  This left him insufficient funds to continuously fuel the plant's boilers. It was all down hill after that.

All things considered 1903 was a landmark year for Tesla's Long Island Plant, although it was not yet functional because of a fatal design flaw in the transmitter.  While Tesla was compelled to lay off all of his regular workers in 1906 he continued to work on the facility.  With this in mind, it cannot be considered as reaching a fully developed state until around 1907.  Tesla's work at the Wardenclyffe facility continued until 1911 or 1912.  The plant was broken into and destroyed around that time.  So what would be the centennial?  The year 2003 could be observed as a starting point.

   Top | Previous  Q & A | Next  Q & A | Questions