America was on the verge of civil war and needed a reliable connection between the North and South. On the telegraph market of the USA at this time were operated with six large companies: American Telegraph Company, New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company, Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph, Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company, and the brainchild of Sibley & Co. - The Western Union Telegraph. 1998 - the number of points of money transfers worldwide reached 50,000. The network of money transfers of Western Union is the world's largest. 1980 - for the first time in the history of Western Union revenues from money transfers exceeded the income from the telegraph service. In the 30's of the twentieth century, Western Union has become the world's largest telegraph company. Thanks to cooperation with Western Union the Associated Press at the end of the XIX century took almost monopolistic position in the U.S. market news. The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. The first offices of company were located in the Reynolds Arcade building in Rochester, New York. The sign above the main entrance to the building - Western Union for more than 130 years provides money transfer services to its customers.