In the case of St. Louis v. Western Union Telegraph Company, 1892, the city of St. Louis sued Western Union for unpaid taxes on its telegraph poles and wires within city limits from 1870 to 1883. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Western Union, stating that under Missouri law at that time, only real estate could be taxed by cities and counties; personal property was taxable only by the state itself. Since telegraph poles and wires were considered personal property rather than real estate (as they could be easily removed), they were not subject to local taxation during this period according to existing laws.

In the dissenting opinion for St. Louis v. Western Union Telegraph Company, it was argued that the majority's decision to allow a city to tax telegraph poles and wires as real estate property contradicted previous rulings of the court regarding what constitutes real estate property. The dissenting justices believed that these structures should not be considered part of the land but rather personal property because they could be removed without causing damage to either themselves or the land on which they were placed. They also pointed out inconsistencies in how different types of similar properties were being taxed under this ruling, expressing concern over potential unfairness and confusion in future taxation cases if such distinctions weren't clarified properly by law.