The first telegraph office was opened in Marshall, Texas in 1854 with initial connections to New Orleans, Natchez,Miss., and Alexandria LA. Later in the same year the line was extened from Marshall to Houston and Galveston with connections between the cities.

The U.S Army built telegraph roads between the military posts on the west Texas frontier. The Military Road and telepraph line from Austin, Fort Groghan, to Williams Ranch, Texas (near present Mullin,TX in Mills County) was built from 1856 - 1858. The military roads and telegraph lines was extended from Williams Ranch,Texas to Camp Colorado in what later became Coleman County and Camp Concho and to Fort Mason. This military network was the longest continous telegraph network in the United States at the time. These telegraph roads were explored and charted by Lt. Francis T. Bryan of the U.S. Topographical Engineers in 1855 - 1856.