From Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted operator directed phones to today’s pocket cell phones, this museum represents a living history of communications technology. Through educational programs like Traveling Trunks, these artifacts come directly into classrooms.

This museum housed in an historic home traces communication technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop to mobile phones we carry around today, while also promoting telecom engineering and electrical theory.

Education

Our goal is to display Edmonton and North America’s largest collection of antique telephone artifacts through hands-on exhibits such as working switching equipment. As a non-profit organization, our funds come from membership fees, research donations and grants.

Our museum presents the history and evolution of telecommunication technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s wooden wall-mounted operator phones to cell phones in pockets today. Both guided and self-guided tours help visitors gain an appreciation of this rich legacy of innovation that has profoundly impacted our lives since early childhood.

Many of our volunteers are former telephone operatorss and workers dedicated to preserving history for future generations. Through sharing memorabilia from their garages and sheds, they have helped build our incredible collections. In order to maximize your visit experience and connect the past and present more seamlessly, we have also developed an engaging app designed to bring museum experience alive – and visitors from Henniker as well as beyond have appreciated its value as an instrument of their exploration.

Community Outreach

The Telephone Historical Centre serves as a research and documentation center for materials related to telecommunications history. Its collections showcase how far communications technology has progressed from Alexander Graham Bell’s wooden wall-mounted operator-directed phones through today’s multifunctional cell phones.

This museum is the largest of its kind in North America and provides visitors with an engaging hands-on experience through one of the world’s largest collections of antique telephone artifacts. Experience history as you touch and try rotary dial telephones from yesteryear; play with telegraph keys that comprised Bell’s initial telecom system; and view tools of linemen’s trade such as copper cabling, manhole covers and telephone insulators.

This museum stands out for its commitment to sustainability. Solar panels help reduce its carbon footprint, with plans for electric vehicle charging stations soon after. Furthermore, its Traveling Trunks Program brings telecommunications history directly to schools and community groups – inspiring curiosity about communication technologies among students of all ages.

Traveling Trunks Program

Established by retired telecom professionals, this museum in Edmonton Alberta provides visitors with an insightful look into communication technology history. Visitors will learn all about innovation, culture and history from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted phones that required operator direction up until today’s sleek mobile phones – while experiencing innovation, culture and history themselves!

Traveling Trunks bring the Museum’s collection directly into schools and community organizations, featuring artifacts, books and hands-on activities chosen from our selection. Each trunk provides educators with tools for teaching specific chapters of American History that align with state social studies requirements.

Trunks feature high quality reproduction clothing and shoes worn by slaves; objects used by them; documents they used during slavery; as well as critical thinking questions to help students comprehend how these materials contributed to its abolition. This program is available free of charge to schools and community groups – trunks must be shipped directly to valid school addresses – PTAs or homeschool co-ops are not eligible; each trunk can be borrowed for one week at no cost.

Covid-19

Telephone Historical Centre operates as a collection, research, organization and documentation center for documents related to communications history. Its vast collections illustrate the evolution of communications from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted phones to multifunctional cell phones we carry today. Museum volunteers seek out former telecom pioneers and ask them to donate memorabilia from their garages and sheds, creating an archive that celebrates telecommunications development and innovation. Furthermore, the museum encourages sustainability with rooftop solar panels as well as encouraging visitors to travel light so that visitors don’t damage any artifacts stored there.

The Telephone Historical Centre archieves offers visitors an interactive history of telecom. It features an impressive collection of antique phones such as wooden crank wall phones with classic rotary dials; working panel and crossbar electromechanical switchboards; outdoor plant displays of poles and cables; as well as an expansive cataloged telecom reference library.

History of the Telephone

As an indispensable communication device, the telephone has long been a part of modern society. But its use was initially met with much skepticism and fear among many individuals – many feared that voices on the other end could reveal secrets they held dear, or were worried that its wires contained electrical impulses which might shock them; some elderly individuals still refuse to touch a telephone for fear of electric shocks!

At first, telephone signals would become garbled over long distances, so Bell attempted to find a solution by creating an effective exchange system and phone numbering scheme that assigned subscribers numbers rather than names.

The Telephone Historical Centre boasts an incredible assortment of antique telephones, telecommunications technology and research documents dating back to 1987 when retired ED TEL employees established this unique museum in Canada. Boasting operating central office step switches, operator switchboards, working wooden wall phones and crank telephones as well as historical Rockville Centre telephone directories and technical manuals related to telephone equipment; its collection also makes up Canada’s only facility of its kind.

Exhibits

The telephone has long been an indispensable feature of modern life, but its history dates back much further. This museum provides an engaging overview of communication technology’s evolution with an expansive collection of antique phones and equipment from centuries past, such as Alexander Graham Bell’s gallows frame phone and Thomas A. Watson’s thumper phone by Thomas A. Watson; also featured are framed artwork and scrapbooks with historic telephone directories and technical manuals from years gone by.

Established by retired ED TEL employees in 1987, this unique facility provides a fascinating glimpse into the development of telecom technology. It features working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches; operator switchboards; antique wooden crank wall phones featuring classic rotary dial telephones; outside plant displays featuring poles, wires and splicing equipment as well as an extensive cataloged reference library to give visitors an immersive experience of telecommunications history.

Traveling Trunks provides group and individual sightseeing tours along with educational outreach through interactive stations, oversize models and installations as well as projections featuring songs from past telecommunication services eras allowing visitors of all ages to experience life before cellphones.

Library

No matter your interest – whether that be history of communications technology, or simply exploring Edmonton’s unique telecom heritage – this unique museum provides something for all visitors. Explore a crank phone, discover an antique switchboard and access one of North America’s largest reference libraries on communications equipment at Canada’s sole telecommunications museum since 1987 – founded by retired ED TEL employees and opening as the Telephone Historical Centre in Canada. Experience history first hand at one of the world’s finest collections of antique telephones, working panel and crossbar electromechanical central office step switches, operator switchboards and outside plant displays of poles cables and splicing equipment – not forgetting group or family sightseeing tours – available to visitors of any age! This must-see attraction for any history enthusiast!

This collection includes historic Rockville Center telephone directories dating back to 1895 on microfilm and microfiche, as well as various technical manuals related to phone equipment. At present, access is by appointment only.

From Alexander Graham Bell’s operator switchboard to today’s sleek cell phones, this museum traces the development of wired telecommunications technology. Additionally, it promotes interest in engineering by showing how modern equipment compares with older technologies.

Edmonton’s only telephone museum provides both guided and self-guided tours of its collection. Highlights include working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; an antique wooden box and candlestick wall phone from 1896; manual step-by-step private automatic branch exchange which illustrates stepping switch principles; outdoor plant displays featuring poles, cables and splicing equipment; as well as an impressive array of antique line insulators.

Self-Guided Tours

Modern telephone calling may seem effortless, but connecting with mom in Philadelphia or your best friend in New York was once far from effortless. Uncover the fascinating history behind modern phone technology at one of North America’s premier telephone museums.

Established by retired ED TEL employees, this unique museum in Edmonton provides both guided and self-guided tours. Features of interest include working Central Office step switches and operator switchboards; antique wooden box phones, candlestick wall phones and desk phones from different eras; solid wood operators switches, antique line insulators as well as an impressive reference library of telecom books.

A&H’s exhibits explore the development of the telecom industry from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop to today’s sleek mobile phones that fit easily in your pocket. Special highlights include a manual cord board; an 1885 wooden three-box telephone; a fully functioning Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange that illustrates stepping switch principles; as well as working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office type switching systems and outdoor plant displays of poles, cables and splicing equipment.

Roseville Telephone Museum in Roseville, Minnesota is another must-visit. Boasting one of the largest collections in North America, its exhibits include working operator switchboards, manual cord boards; step-by-step private automatic branch exchange that demonstrates stepping switch principles; solid wood operator switches and antique line insulators; an extensive cataloged telecom reference library; outside plant displays featuring poles, wires and splicing equipment; plus more.

This museum was designed with both children and adults in mind, offering educational programs comparing modern telecommunications with vintage technology. These programs encourage young people to pursue engineering as careers while at the same time appreciating all of the craftsmanship, ingenuity, and craftsmanship that go into modern phone communication systems.

Self-guided experiences provide museums with limited staffing resources an effective way to provide professional interpretation while not increasing tour guide numbers; this approach can especially come in handy during peak seasons or remote destinations where finding guides may prove challenging.

Innovative business owners offer customized self-guided tours designed specifically to appeal to travel enthusiasts looking for deeper engagement with specific topics or regions, whether culinary traditions, architectural styles or literary ties. Visitors can explore at their own pace while stopping off at places that particularly intrigue them.

Cultural Routes

An increasing number of destination marketing organizations and community groups are offering self-guided tours that link multiple locations within an area into a single narrative experience. These itineraries showcase the collective heritage and history of a region by connecting natural landscapes, architectural landmarks, historic communities and museums to tell a narrative about local customs and traditions over time. Baggardteatret project in Denmark serves as an outstanding example of this approach. While its itinerary remains incomplete, its goal is to offer location-triggered stories that deepen travelers’ knowledge about this coastal destination’s history and culture. As these immersive experiences become more common around the globe, their flexibility may even enable new types of interactions between destinations and visitors.