In 1917, with World War I at a stalemate, German military leaders adopted an aggressive strategy to strike any ships encountered in the Atlantic, including those of neutral nations. As part of a campaign to hinder entry of the U.S. into the war, Germany's Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Arthur Zimmerman, approved a message to Mexican president Venustiano Carranza offering financial support and other considerations in return for Mexico's invasion of the American Southwest. Because Britain had cut the German transatlantic cable, Germany relied on American cables, and on Jan. 16, 1917, the Zimmerman telegram was sent from Germany to Washington, D.C., then forwarded by the German Ambassador to Mexico City via the Mexican Telegraph Co. Trans-Gulf Cable, which entered Galveston near 19th Street beneath the seawall. Equipment in a small building at 1819 Ave. O relayed the encoded telegram on to Mexico. British intelligence agents monitoring messages through the U.S. Embassy in London intercepted and deciphered the telegram, then gave a copy to the U.S. Government on Feb 19. After reviewing it, President Woodrow Wilson gave up hopes for a peaceful end to the war and arranged for the telegram to be leaked to the press, helping accelerate U.S. entry into the war and the allies' eventual victory. After the armistice in 1918, the Mexican Telegraph Co. merged with Western Union, and its Galveston office remained open for 66 years before closing in 1949. The telegraph company building was relocated in 1995 to prevent demolition and was later restored.
