Mission of Our Museum Our mission is to show the public the invention, ingenuity, and industry of telecommunications from 1876 up until now by using working equipment as tangible evidence of this technology.
Students, researchers and anyone interested in Edmonton’s history can explore the THG Archives which contain an impressive collection of antique telephone directories dating back to the 1800s, technical books on telecomm technology and much more.
The History of the Telephone
The telephone has become one of the world’s greatest inventions. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to communicate instantly across continents. Now most take instant communication for granted but back before its creation life was much tougher.
Before the telephone revolutionized communication, people needed to send long distance messages using telegraph wires that only transmitted written text in Morse code – making spoken words unsuitable for transmission and lengthy or complex messages difficult to read remotely. With the telephone revolutionizing long distance communications by offering direct conversations across long distances as well as audio transmission capabilities.
Alexander Graham Bell is widely recognized as the inventor of the first telephone, yet other inventors such as Antonio Meucci, Thomas Edison, and Elisha Grey also created early versions. Over time this issue has become the subject of intense discussion, research, and even legal action.
The History of the Telecommunications Industry
By the early 1980s, most industrialized countries had established extensive wireline network systems to enable citizens and businesses to communicate instantaneously over long distances. Telecommunications companies quickly emerged as major employers with lucrative job offerings for linemen, cable splicers, station installers and switchboard operators that helped fuel rapid economic development of these nations.
Networks evolved, replacing circuit switching with packet switching and analog representations of voice, video, and data with digital ones. New technologies like cell phones, satellite TV, and the Internet also reduced reliance on wired networks.
Structure has also undergone dramatic transformation. Gone are the days when there was a single national telephone company; now multiple private operators networks often exist within any given country, complicating regulation by creating competing pressures on costs and infrastructure necessary for providing services.
Communications services often operate as interconnection businesses; capacity from one network may be shared among subscribers from different networks, leading to roaming charges. Sector policies tend to be highly complex and tariffs reflect this complexity; as a result, competition among providers can often be intense and barriers to entry can be quite high.
The History of Edmonton
Edmonton’s central location on the North Saskatchewan River valley has attracted settlement for millennia. A stone tool found inland from river’s shore in 1976 indicates continuous occupation during Prehistory period.
By the late 19th century, numerous small settlements had arisen along the riverbanks and in surrounding areas, each with their own individual identity. These villages provided homes to both Indigenous people and newcomers from all parts of the globe.
Edmonton became a regional wholesale trading and transportation center when the railway arrived in 1891, which saw economic development centred on various agricultural processing activities including meat packing.
After World War II, Edmonton experienced rapid population growth due to an explosion in oil industry activity which provided jobs, wealth and a new sense of civic pride for its citizens.
Edmonton’s history can be found throughout its buildings, artifacts and other historic sites throughout the city. Edmonton is also a center for research and technology innovation – including telephone systems. Public and private libraries in Edmonton offer extensive collections of local history materials to help discover your personal connection to this historic community. Published histories for districts or towns often provide volumes of biographical data on families – these histories can often be found at FamilySearch Library as well as most larger Canadian libraries.
