This pole likely was put into service in the 1890s. When this photo was taken this and many other Western Union lines here in the northeast were being rebuilt with new cedar poles, hard-drawn copper wire (replacing the old iron wire) and 10-pin crossarms. This rebuilding did not take place all at once in most areas. Rather, one-by-one pole replacements and remaining stretches were updated by 1930 or thereabouts.

Quincy is a few miles south of Boston. This was a main telegraph and railroad route between Boston and the rest of southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod.

Click "Next" for a close view of this pole's top section. Most of the insulators are CD 145s, very likely Brookfields.