The Telephone Historical Centre was a non-profit organization created in Edmonton, Alberta by retired ED TEL employees in 1987. It opened on December 3rd 1987 at a former telephone exchange building in Old Strathcona before relocating to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre on April 10, 2004 for group tours and individual visits.
The Telephone Museum
The Telephone Museum was located within an original Edmonton telephone exchange building in Old Strathcona and provided visitors with an immersive experience. Attractions to this museum included working panel and crossbar electromechanical central office step switches and operator switchboards; antique wooden wall phones; candlestick wall phones that ring and dial; crank phone tables that enable guests to dial and speak directly on the line; as well as one of North America’s largest cataloged telecommunications reference libraries. There was also an outdoor plant display featuring poles, wires and splicing equipment – making this museum an engaging destination for family outings, school field trips and group sightseeing tours of Edmonton.
As part of your genealogy research, be sure to ask family members for any details on their experience with telephone companies. While they may not volunteer this information immediately, written letters or telephone surveys can quickly reveal valuable details that could aid your research more than an oral interview would.
The Jefferson Telecom Museum
The Jefferson Telecom Museum offers visitors an engaging museum experience by allowing them to interact directly with telephone-related artifacts, such as its Central Office step switch, operator switchboards and hundreds of telephones on display. Visitors can experience how communication technology has advanced over time from smoke signals to text messages as they learn about pioneers such as an operator who refused to abandon her switchboard during a flood.
This museum was one of the first nationwide to specialize in telephone history preservation, with items collected by members of the Daubendiek family. Its displays represent Edmonton’s longstanding telephone history and provide an engaging destination for family outings, school field trips or group tours of Edmonton.
The museum is housed in an historic 1896 building renovated by employees and retirees from Southwestern Bell, SBC, AT&T, Telecom Pioneers employee service organization and more. Open to self-guided tours by visitors.
The New Hampshire Telephone Museum
The New Hampshire Telephone Museum provides an accessible history of communications. Committed to collecting telephone artifacts from Violette and Bartlett families, the NHTM provides a fascinating look into one of humanity’s most significant inventions – how Alexander Graham Bell raced an undertaker to patent his invention; discover what life was like working as a switchboard operator; or witness its 9-foot tall stepping switch in action! Open May – October Tuesdays through Fridays 10-4; closed in November/February with guided and self-guided tours available NHTM is open May through October Tuesday- Friday 10-4 and closed November/February. Guided/self guided tours available NHTM is open May through October Tuesday- Friday 10-4 and closed November/February; guided/self guided tours available as well.
The Telecom Pioneers of Old Strathcona
Established by retired employees of Edmonton D TEL in 1987, this museum is dedicated to preserving the history of telecommunications. Established at its current location at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in central Edmonton in 2004, group and individual tours, multi-media historical Telecommunications Theatre Show as well as resource centre with over one century worth of telephone directories and technical manuals are offered throughout.
The museum features an original phone collection which highlights the development of telecom technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s Gallows Frame Telephone to Thomas Watson’s Thumper Phone, including Thomas Watson’s Thumper Phone. Furthermore, an electromechanical Panel and Crossbar Central Office Switch is on display, along with working operator’s switchboards, poles for cables, and outdoor displays of poles cable and splicing equipment.
Pioneers also support the National Library Service’s Talking Books program, enabling those unable to read standard print due to visual or physical impairments access reading material in Braille and recorded form. Furthermore, they repair and maintain cassette and record players used by this initiative.
