A century-old iconic building in North Sydney that played a key role in both the first and second world wars, and even the night the Titanic sank, was torn down on Monday.

Even though the former “Telegraph Building” has been vacant for nearly thirty years, the crowds that gathered for the demolition were sad to see it torn down.

“I have mixed emotions, it’s sad for me to see this disappearing,” says resident Bill Gardiner. “There’s a lot of history in that building.”

The building opened a couple years before the start of the First World War, and it was used as a key telegraph station.

It was the first point of contact on the continental North American for trans-Atlantic messages, after being relayed via Newfoundland.

“Almost all top-secret military information from Europe that came from North Sydney, and by extension, Canada and the United States, came through this building here,” says historian Rannie Gillis.

It served a similar role during the Second World War, where, as the story goes, two of the most powerful people in the world at the time were once caught having a little fun. It started when a telegraph operator noticed a strange message.

“When he finally figured it out, it appears that Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt were playing a game of trans-Atlantic chess!” says Gillis.

After the wars, the building became a Western Union branch before being sold to a local church in the 1960’s as a community hall.

Along with the building’s rich history, comes a bundle of memories from residents in the area.

“I used to live across the street as a child,” says resident Tim Kavanaugh. “So I knew it back then, when it was working as it was at the time, as a cable office.”

“My grandfather was transferred here back during the First World War,” says Gardiner.

The building has been witness to a remarkable amount of history, but perhaps none more fascinating than the role it played on the fateful night the Titanic sank.

“The operators who were working in this building knew before anyone else in North America that the Titanic was going down,” says Gillis.

Some feel a building with such history should have been preserved. While its bricks and mortar are reduced to dust, its stories of the 20th century’s most historic moments are still being told.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald