The Telephone Historical Centre traces the evolution of an innovative communication technology through generations. It honors those who worked tirelessly erecting poles, burying cables and designing platforms to manage it all.

Exhibits at this museum feature early telephones such as wooden wall phones that ring and dial, operator switchboards and other forms of telecommunications technology.

Collections

The Museum offers an eclectic selection of antique telephones and telecom equipment that span from dialing old wall phones to using manual switchboards; its collection offers visitors many diverse experiences that allow them to interact directly with artifacts.

The collections trace the development of Canadian telecom, with an emphasis on Bell’s role, through documents and artifacts such as telephone directories, photographs and oral histories. Additionally, The Research Archives comprise of three and a half million paper documents and twenty-five thousand pieces of equipment.

The collection houses many iconic pieces such as the first telephone set ever produced, Alexander Graham Bell’s original phone, and a copy of his voice recording from March 10, 1876 of “Mr. Watson, come here! I want you!”. Additionally, two switchboards, the last step-by-step private automatic branch exchange system and panel systems can also be found here.

Exhibits

Collections provide an illuminating narrative of telecommunications from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop to modern smartphones. They preserve physical instruments which contributed to breakthroughs in connectivity and emergency services as well as historical documents like advertisements or personal narratives that help modern audiences better comprehend how these inventions operated historically.

The Museum of Telecom provides visitors with a diverse array of phones, from rotary dialers and hand-on switchboards to glass insulators and recreations of independent phone exchanges in small town America. In addition, they honor those who built and managed our telecommunications networks – from linemen who erected poles to phone operators who heard heartrending tales of distress.

The Telephone Pioneers volunteer group runs this museum, boasting an impressive library on telecom history and reconstructing an open wire five and six arm ARA structure outside. Furthermore, numerous historic items can be found inside.

Workshops

As our world becomes ever more dependent on telephone communication for instantaneous global communication, it is vital that its legacy be preserved. At the Telephone Historical Centre you can explore its remarkable technology’s history through exhibitions and tours.

The Museum of Telecommunications displays an assortment of telecom artifacts, such as old switchboards, equipment and historic documents. Research services can also be scheduled here by appointment. Its collections also include photographs, displays of telephone technicians with their tools as well as blueprints for aerial wire, pole erection and network installations.

The Telephone Museum provides workshops that teach participants about electricity, engineering and the history of telephone technology. These sessions can help foster children’s natural curiosity about electricity and engineering while simultaneously increasing understanding of electric theory mathematical ratios and improving hands-on tool skills. Furthermore, their design makes these workshops easily scalable to serve informal science education organizations looking for sustainable STEM community programs.

Volunteers

Volunteers contribute in many different ways at the Museum. From helping visitors at the reception desk or Museum Store, building exhibit props, creating displays at Spring and Third to becoming docents leading tours for school groups or other groups; researching genealogy or cataloguing artifacts – or even helping with library/archival duties! – volunteer work takes many forms.

Some volunteers provide Social Media monitoring and planning and writing posts for Bloomington History websites and Facebook pages, collecting photos and stories as they arise. Others photograph Bloomington businesses, parks and churches for promotional use.

Some volunteers, such as former telephone operators or workers, possess firsthand knowledge of Bell’s invention and development. Others, like Gordon Lind, dedicate themselves to public education; recently receiving the Harold C. Vonder Here Outstanding Volunteer Award in recognition of their efforts.

The Collections is an engaging place where one can commemorate and explore the future of communications technology. A visit is perfect for family outings, school field trips or group tours.

The Museum offers an impressive collection of antique telephones and telecom equipment. Many phones ring, dial and are fully operational.

The Bell Collection

The Bell Collection houses over 10 terabytes of information on over 16,000 species from both Minnesota and around the globe, enabling visitors to explore zebras, algae, and more via state-of-the-art digital resources.

Myrtle Eldridge left traces of herself throughout The Belfry as reminders of her dedication. There’s the framed Guinness World Record certificate hanging alongside her name in one of the bell rooms; and more subtle clues, like keeping detailed notes documenting where, when, and from whom each bell was acquired as well as keeping typed transcripts of many handwritten correspondence she conducted over many years.

As soon as Richard Barthelemy became public education coordinator for the museum in 1966, he introduced an immersive learning experience for children that continues today. He would put items from their collections–bones, feathers and other artifacts–on carts or directly on carpet for visitors to examine and handle; it quickly became a hit and is still offered during museum visits today. Furthermore, they offer books related to anthropology.

The Kellogg Universal Switchboard

The collection offers an exquisite assortment of antique telephones and telecom equipment. On display are numerous rotary dial phones, manual switchboards including the last step-by-step private automatic branch exchange demonstrating step switch principles, candlestick wall telephones made of wood or candle wax as well as wooden telephones with line insulators attached.

Milo Gifford Kellogg was an important pioneer of early telephony. He created large switchboards which allowed operators to collaborate while making calls with different ring frequencies (similar to Morse code rings) using different switchboard lines. Furthermore, his company produced standard WE-pattern desk and wall phones until ITT acquired their operations and renamed it ITT Kellogg Telephone in 1951.

The museum pays a fitting homage to generations of men and women who made possible the Bell network; from erecting poles, burying cables, designing technology systems that make it all work to designing exhibitions that make learning fun for all ages. The exhibit is interactive and entertaining all at the same time!

The Red Telephone Kiosk Collection

Through much of the 20th century, cities and towns across Britain had distinctive red telephone booths designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott called K1 kiosks that became national symbols for the General Post Office (GPO). When GPO started replacing kiosks with modern payphones in 1986, local campaigners including Thirties Society members and London Boroughs used legislation designed to protect buildings of architectural or historic importance to prevent their sale-off and give listed status to old kiosks that had been sold off to GPO.

British citizens treasure these kiosks and continue to use them in various ways; for example, Eastbourne Pier’s beachfront kiosk has been transformed into a coffee bar complete with hot dog and ice cream machines! Others have been converted into community defibrillator stations thanks to BT and Community Heartbeat partnerships, or have even taken on new roles such as being turned into replicas of Doctor Who’s iconic blue Police Box!

The Tanner Collection

Henry Ossawa Tanner was the first African-American painter to achieve international renown. Born in Pittsburgh to a bishop father and an escaped slave mother who had made their escape on the Underground Railroad, Tanner held strong beliefs in both religion and racial equality within his family and in his art; The Raising of Lazarus clearly illustrates this aspect. Tanner’s pictorial constructions transcended clear racial definition; its multiple complexions and physiognomies reflect his visionary paintings that defied American racial ideology.

Tanner studied under Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before departing for Paris after realizing he could no longer fight racism while becoming an artist simultaneously in America. While in France, Tanner became acquainted with French modernism and old master techniques.

Holburne Museum’s Tanner Collection includes paintings, sketches and other works on paper by Tanner himself. Series I contains his correspondence with Tchelitchew while series III contains photographs taken of Tchelitchew in New York and Paris during the 1920’s.

The museum showcases telephones and related telecommunications equipment from across history, such as Alexander Graham Bell’s workshop or an active Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange that illustrates the stepping switch principle, or simply stunning collections of glass insulators.

This project offered an exceptional opportunity to collect rich data on older adults during an acute public health emergency, while simultaneously showing research teams how they can engage with community members when face-to-face activities are not possible.

The Bell Museum

Most Minnesotans know the Bell Museum of Natural History for its dioramas – they’re an iconic part of life – but this museum has an intricate and often mysterious past that may surprise you. NPR’s Tim Nelson spoke with one of the authors of a new book on its history entitled A Natural Curiosity to get more insights.

The Bell Museum Board builds and extends successful partnerships and social capital while engaging in various activities that support its strategies, projects, events and programs. Activities typically undertaken include 1:1 consultation with museum leadership or Board Chair; participation in Board committee (three meetings yearly); attending significant Bell Museum public events; as well as contributing actively towards an atmosphere of openness, candor and mutual respect on board.

The Board also strongly supports the Bell Museum’s Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Action Plan – a central aspect of its work to connect locals with science of our world.

The Telephone Historical Centre

The Telephone Historical Centre, founded in Edmonton, Alberta on December 3 1987 as an acquisition, research, organization, documentation, exhibition and storage center dedicated to telecom history materials. Originally located in Old Strathcona neighborhood but later moving to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre.

This museum showcases everything from Alexander Graham Bell’s basic box-shaped telephone all the way up to modern cellular phones. Exhibits are interactive and hands-on – for instance you can sit at a manual switchboard and act as an operator to connect calls for people, or try out crank wall phones lining its walls.

The Museum boasts functioning Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches, outside plant displays of poles, cables, splicing equipment and tools as well as a catalogued telecommunications reference library that visitors may use. As one of North America’s largest museums of its kind founded by retired ED TEL employees it is run solely on volunteerism as a non-profit charitable organization.

The Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre

Prince of Wales Armouries, more commonly known as Edmonton Drill Hall, was constructed for use by the Department of National Defence between 1915 and 1977 as an early armoury building in Alberta. Known for its fortress-like construction, its main function was training soldiers on military formation.

Once World War II ended, military presence around Edmonton decreased and its drill hall was declared surplus by the Department of Defense. Ownership was eventually transferred to the City of Edmonton in 1982; today it houses both archives and Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum collections.

The Telephone Historical Centre provides hands on exhibits illustrating communication principles as well as an engaging Telecommunications Theatre Show! A wonderful place for both children and adults alike, the Telephone Historical Centre is an invaluable educational experience in downtown Edmonton. Volunteers play an invaluable role in its success – helping with tours, managing youth activity tables and cataloguing artifacts (some volunteer have formal artifact handling or library/archives experience!).

Raven Hill

Raven Hill Discovery Center provides hands-on science, history and art learning experiences for people of all ages. Through exhibits and facilities it connects science, history and the arts – providing people of all ages the chance to interact and gain new insight.

Raven Hill’s mission is to “encourage interest in science, its role in history, and the arts by providing quality hands-on experiences.” Our center provides visitors with many ways to learn, create and grow indoors and outdoors.

Visitors to the main museum can discover a new world and gain knowledge about animals through an exotic animal room. Exhibits at this museum include the Medicinal Garden, Beyond Jurassic Park walkways, one-room school houses, Alternative Energy House and ET Building as well as ponds, watershed models, learning gardens and an ancient world exhibits.

The center offers professional development workshops for teachers. These sessions equip educators to embrace cutting-edge teaching methods and promote STEM within their classroom. Modeled lessons enable educators to observe, participate in, and ultimately incorporate this lesson into their class and make connections between subjects, careers and the real world.

This museum showcases an extraordinary collection of antique phones and equipment. Ranging from crank wall phones to decorative models, its collection tells an inspiring tale of technology, innovation, and people.

The Telephone Historical Centre offers an engaging opportunity to discover Edmonton’s rich telecom history. A visit is both family friendly and educational – making this museum visit perfect for family outings or school field trips!

Admission

The Telephone Historical Centre provides a fascinating glimpse into the development of communications in New Mexico. Featuring antique telephones – from solid wooden, wall mounted hand-cranked phones to pocket sized touch-screen cellular phones – as well as hundreds of related pieces of equipment, visitors will gain a comprehensive perspective of this field’s development in New Mexico.

Visits to the museum can be exciting family adventures or educational field trips for students. Guided tours are available for groups of 10 or more people and tours can be scheduled two weeks in advance. Admission fees range from $5 for adults, $4 for senior 60 years old or older, $3 for children 5-12, with active military personnel admitted free-of-charge.

The Telephone Historical Centre is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization. Its purpose is to educate the public on the history and legacy of New Mexican telecommunications industries while protecting those responsible. Housed within an historic 1906 telephone building located downtown Albuquerque.

Exhibits

The museum collection showcases more than a century of communications technology in Roseville and nationally. Additionally, it serves as an excellent destination for family outings or school field trips.

This museum houses an impressive collection of telephones, equipment and memorabilia. Part of the Telecommunications History Group – a non-profit corporation operating an extensive telecommunications research archive in Denver – it provides access to this exhibit.

The museum exhibits are interactive, giving visitors of all ages a unique experience of how the telephone has transformed communication over the years. Some highlights of the experience include a working switchboard and Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange which demonstrate how telephones were operated before modern mobile phones came into use; as well as crank wall phones and decorator telephones as well as equipment and tools used by telecom workers throughout history.

Tours

The Telephone Museum gave visitors an overview of communications technology and its history. Visitors could test their hand at operating a working switching station, while learning about the Winter Park Telephone Company founded by Carl Galloway in Maitland.

The museum was home to an impressive selection of original telephones dating back to 1878; just two years after Alexander Graham Bell received his patent on his invention. Visitors had an opportunity to interact with these artifacts, making this collection ideal for school field trips or group sightseeing tours.

Tours were led by current and retired ED TEL employees who were passionate about its collection and history, providing guests with an interactive experience while learning more about telephone history. This approach made the Telephone Historical Centre an unparalleled destination for anyone interested in telecom history.

Telecommunications have come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell received his patent in 1876, and this museum boasts an extensive collection of telephone items such as switchboards, crank wall phones and decorator phones.

Discover all there is to see and do at this one-of-a-kind museum that explores Edmonton’s telephone industry’s people, technology and history. There’s so much here!

The Museum of Independent Telephony

The Museum of Independent Telephony in Abilene, Kansas offers visitors an insight into the world of non-Bell System phone companies that provided service across the Midwest and West. Visitors are welcome to touch its exhibits freely! It features a replica of an old telephone exchange along with glass insulators displays and vintage phones from its collection; visitors are even encouraged to touch exhibits themselves!

The museum’s curators are true phone enthusiasts. They collect an array of old wall devices, from candlestick phones and rotary dialers to jukebox phones (used by diners to call in music requests to waitresses), jukebox phones (for choosing music selections in restaurants) and McKinley telephones (the kind used to announce President McKinley had been shot) over 100 years ago.

As soon as the Bell patents expired in 1893, 6,000 independent telephone companies (“Independents”) emerged across North America. Many still exist today and the Museum of Independent Telephony serves to commemorate them and demonstrate how their desire to communicate has spurred 150 years of technological innovation and progress.

The History of the Telephone in Edmonton

The Telephone Historical Centre is an interactive museum designed to entice visitors into engaging with its artifacts. It boasts an impressive collection of original telephones such as crank wall phones and decorator phones; working operator switchboards; step-by-step private automatic branch exchange; display of telephone-related equipment ranging from 1920s rotary phones up to modern smartphones; all located on one floor for easy wheelchair accessibility and accredited by Museums Alberta.

The Museum commemorates generations of men and women who made telecommunications possible, from pioneering engineers who installed poles, buried cables, managed the technology, put phones into homes, businesses and cars; as well as workers who took calls, answered queries and solved problems for customers both residential and business – including an impressive archive containing photographs, news articles and ephemera that can be viewed both at the Museum as well as online.

The History of Telecommunications in Alberta

Alexander Graham Bell first introduced his telephone invention into Canada in 1878 through two telegraph companies that provided local telephone service – as opposed to today’s vast, multinational telecom companies, these were independent private-sector businesses that were overseen by provincial public utility boards and provided locally provided phone service.

These companies were able to offer local telephone services through the use of “repeaters,” devices installed along communication lines that amplified voice signals so they could travel longer distances. Over time, these networks expanded further, leading to widespread availability of telecommunication services.

Alberta Government Telephones (AGT), formed following the amalgamation of various independent telephone companies in Alberta in 1906, served as the sole provider for most of Alberta until it was privatized and renamed Telus in 1990. Unfortunately, due to relevancy, financial issues, and structural problems with their foundation underlying Edmonton Telephone Historical Centre decided to dissolve.

The Virtual Telephone Heritage

In addition to its collection of historical artifacts, the THC houses an impressive library focusing on telecom technology and history. These volumes include one-of-a-kind volumes like 1877’s The Telephone: An Account of Electricity, Magnetism and Sound with Instructions for Making a Speaking Telephone which was written to fulfill public demand for more explanation of Alexander Graham Bell’s invention.

The THC also holds many historic switches and equipment that could be restored and put on display if funding can be secured to restore them, such as Step-by-Step Private Automatic Branch Exchange from Unity, Maine; Rotary XY switches used in local switching operations; and an Arctic Pole Line Relay Station from Andover Alaska.

Since 2003, virtual heritage technology has become an indispensable tool in archaeological fieldwork (via aerial drone-based photo modeling and born-digital documentation packages), museum display, and teaching (with interactive models on hand-held devices, HMD-based computer labs and global collaborative classrooms). The THC has pioneered this discipline, contributing many case studies for publication in Creating and Using Virtual Reality book.