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INVENTION IGNORED?

Who Really Invented the Radio? The Answer Might Be Different Than You Think. Several Residents in West Virginia Believe They Know the Truth.

By Mike Foley

Before Mahlon Loomis died in 1886, he made a simple request to friends and family. Loomis, a small-town dentist, wanted a small rose bush planted at his grave site. Unfortunately, that request was never granted.

That almost seems fitting for Loomis, who led a life focused on cutting-edge invention, but had difficulty garnering attention for his work. But residents of Terra Alta, West Virginia, where Loomis lived, know him as a pioneer and the true inventor of the radio.

The radio? Wasn't that the work of Italian Guglielmo Marconi? The textbooks all say so, but several radio historians agree that Loomis was transmitting wireless telegraph signals two decades before Marconi. He was, in fact, granted a U.S. patent in 1872 for his telegraph system, which was also hailed as an invention that could melt icebergs, make the seasons milder, and eliminate devastating diseases like malaria.

Those claims obviously proved false, as did much of Loomis' radio theory, which focused on electrically-conducting layers in the lower atmosphere, which (as we now know) do not exist. But it is undeniable that Loomis conducted experiments in 1870, which were sponsored by the U.S. Navy. At that time, he successfully transmitted telegraph signals between two ships on Chesapeake Bay.

A year after receiving his patent, Loomis came close to realizing his dream when Congress chartered the Loomis Aerial Telegraph Company, allowing him to experiment further with his theory. In 1865, he flew two kites, carrying wires from mountain tops 14 miles apart and transmitted a signal between them. The wire from one kite was attached to the ground with a telegraph key, while the other kite was grounded through a galvanometer.

"Loomis also set up a link between the railroad station and the village pharmacy," said broadcast historian Bill Jaker. "A signal that the train was arriving may have been the first practical use of wireless."

But Loomis was unable to secure funding for other projects and could not convince Congress to participate in a wireless test between the U.S. and Switzerland. Many historians believe that had the $50,000 request been granted, Loomis' place in history would have been assured. But Loomis, frustrated and embittered, died in 1866 before his work bore any practical fruit.

During the 1970s, Loomis' family and other West Virginia residents tried unsuccessfully to have his work recognized by Congress. However, lawmakers refused to hail Loomis as inventor of the radio, despite aggressive efforts by those in Terra Alta. Since then, the Loomis issue has continued to grow and expand. Some even believe that recent UFO sightings in the area are somehow related to Loomis' experiments more than 130 years ago.

But Loomis' only real recognition is an entry in the Guiness Book of World Records and a historical marker along West Virginia Route 7 that offers a summary of his work.

"Growing up in Terra Alta, I passed by the Mahlon Loomis sign nearly every day," said Joseph Hauger. "And a neighbor told me that the large tree in the front yard still had wire and iron banding embedded in the bark from Loomis' experiments."

Such paraphernalia makes for great local legends. But this is a legend that refuses to die and remains a subject of discussion among radio buffs. And although it's doubtful that Mahlon Loomis will ever replace Marconi in the history books, Terra Alta locals know who really invented radio. Loomis remains an American figure whose legend will die hard in a tiny corner of West Virginia.