Theodore Vail is a major name in the history of telecommunications. Born in Carroll County, Ohio, Vail was the first president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and is considered a leading designer of the Bell System. After a successful career in the railway postal service, he was persuaded to give it all up in order to run the Bell Telephone business; as one writer notes, Vail was a thousand-horse-power steam engine wasting his time at the U.S. Railway mail service. (1)

Vail is known to have succeeded so remarkably in the communications business not because of some over abundant talent, but because of his willingness to take risks and his ability to envision a future beyond what other people of the era imagined possible. He was a hard worker, dedicated to improving the telephone industry and to making his company the very best of the industry. Vail once claimed, real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. Vail dedicated the Bell Company to creating the first transcontinental phone service in the world. In 1914, he made the first telephone call across the country from New York to San Francisco. Within a year of that, the service was available in Europe. (CMG)

(1) Smyth-online web site (see link below).

Between the years 1916 and 1918, Theodore Vail had a mansion built in Morristown, New Jersey to serve as both his home and as a museum after he retired. Unfortunately, Vail died before he had a chance to live in the building. Vail Mansion stands at 110 South Street, Morristown, New Jersey.

The mansion is an example of an Italian Renaissance Palazzo style building, complete with archways and columns around a central courtyard. The first floor of the mansion was intended to serve as a museum for Vails collection of fine art as well as his familys inventions, while the second floor was designated as his living quarters. The front doors are bronze, containing eight panels that illustrate scenes of local history and folklore.(1)

The Italian Renaissance Palazzo of the 15th century, containing a central front block, was primarily concerned with the uniformity of door and window openings and masonry quality; these characteristics can also be seen in the Vail Mansion. The Florentines, who essentially founded this style of architecture, were conscious of the role of house facades as part of the streetscape.(2) Judging by the appearance of Vail Mansion, Theodore Vail also took into consideration this aspect of architecture. (CMG)

(2) Glenn M Andres, John M Hunisak, and A. Richard Turner, The Art of Florence (New York: Abbeville Press, 1994).