This collection traces the development of telephone and communications technology from its infancy up until today, featuring operator switchboards, crank wall phones and tools used by our ancestors among many other items.
This is a fun and educational family outing or school field trip destination.
General Admission
Herb Warrick, a longtime employee of Pacific Northwest Bell (now AT&T), founded and started this museum. It’s run entirely by volunteers; many of which are former or current Pacific Northwest Bell employees as members of Charles B. Hopkins No 30 Telephone Pioneers of America – a non-profit fraternal organization made up of long-service and retired phone company workers.
Roseville Telephone Museum provides an enjoyable and educational family outing, school field trip or group sight-seeing tour destination. It showcases a working Central Office Step Switch, operator switchboards and hundreds of pieces of telephone-related equipment and memorabilia.
This collection boasts the largest telecommunications reference library and outdoor plant displays of poles, wire, splicing gear and tools in North America.
Family Members
Family members can provide invaluable information and stories that assist genealogists, especially older relatives who may possess records that have yet to be collected by other genealogists. Family members also tend to possess objects from the past such as photographs, documents and old telephone equipment such as rotary phones or party lines which could prove invaluable for researchers. A visit, letter or telephone survey are all excellent methods of collecting such data.
Family members must comply with security procedures and visiting room rules when visiting. When an established visit pattern has been disturbed for more than one year, discretion should be used; any disruptions must be documented with written explanations provided to staff members.
Seniors
Ofttimes, those working at telephone museums are retired employees who possess firsthand knowledge about the equipment displayed. Their devotion to sharing that expertise ensures the history of landlines is kept alive as technology becomes less prominent in our daily lives.
Seniors can join other seniors in enjoying an array of activities and social opportunities offered at these centers, such as self-defense classes, health presentations, bingo, karaoke sessions and field trips. Many centers also provide meals or special events catered to older adults.
The Telephone Historical Centre in Edmonton serves as a museum dedicated to telephone history. The centre’s collection includes antique and modern rotary dial phones, switchboards, and other forms of telecommunications equipment; additionally it maintains archives with old Edmonton telephone directories and technical manuals related to telephone history.
Students
The Telephone Historical Centre was an Edmonton-based museum specializing in the history of telephones. Established by retired employees of Edmonton Data Telecommunications Ltd (ED TEL), its home at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre until April 2019 when its operations ceased.
The museum exhibited an exceptional collection of telephones and memorabilia that demonstrated the evolution of communication technology over time, such as working switching equipment. Artifacts ranging from liquid transmitters to modern mobile-telephone technology could also be seen here.
Explore technology’s development through experimentation with old-fashioned phones! Children will enjoy our Telephone Workshops which foster engineering skills using electricity theory and screw drivers to explore phone artifacts.
Military
Preservation of rare telephone models, prototypes and historical documentation provides a glimpse of the processes that created today’s intricately interwoven world. Collections like these are not only physically protected but also kept alive for future generations to discover and gain from them.
As part of their collection, these rare objects stand out: rotary dial phones and manual switchboards were essential pieces of telecom equipment before automated systems took over this task.
The museum features memorabilia from both the 1984 Olympics and past Albuquerque Balloon Fiestas, along with phone history in New Mexico and two-position Kellogg universal switchboards for visitors to experience connecting calls manually.
