Western Union
![Wilbur Bold, a 12-year-old Western Union messenger boy, Tampa, Florida, 1911.](/Images/godic/202501/02/1911-westernunion-childworker1926.jpg")
![Former headquarters of WU, located at 60 Hudson, New York, NY, USA, in the early and middle 20th century](/Images/godic/202501/02/Western_Union_building,_Manhattan1926.jpg")
![Advertisement for Western Union](/Images/godic/202501/02/Western_Union_TOURATE_Telegram_ad_19391926.jpg")
![Example of a Western Union Telegram, 1959. Note that the message text is a continuous strip of paper which was cut and glued to the telegram form.](/Images/godic/202501/02/1959_Western_Union_Telegram1926.jpg")
The Western Union Company is an American financial services and communications company. Its North American headquarters is in Meridian, Colorado, though the postal designation of nearby Englewood is used in its mailing address. Up until it discontinued the service in 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S. company in the business of exchanging telegrams.