Our museum serves as an acquisition, research, organization, documentation and exhibition center for telephone history materials. Its collections bring life back into engineering – from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted operator directed phones to modern multifunctional pocket cell phones.

Telephone Outreach Workshops combine STEM education and curiosity by teaching students to use screw drivers while exploring electrical theory through old rotary phones and stepping switches. Formative evaluation data confirms this approach works.

Museum Collections

The Museum’s extensive collection brings pivotal moments in communication history to life. Visitors will have an opportunity to see and touch revolutionary devices like Alexander Graham Bell’s gallows frame telephone and the first manual system phones imported into Edmonton; thus developing a deeper appreciation for these brilliant innovations that enable us to communicate across continents.

The Museum Collections contain working panel and crossbar electromechanical central office switch equipment, operator switchboards, outside plant displays of poles, wire and insulators and an extensive library of telephone related reference material including books, catalogs and technical journals.

The intimate setting and carefully chosen artifacts at this museum provide visitors with an engaging glimpse into human stories behind communication technology. Educational outreach programs, like Traveling Trunks Program, bring the Museum collection directly into schools and communities who cannot visit directly. Museum ambassadors welcome groups while also roaming public zones answering visitor queries or leading them towards programs or exhibitions.

Outreach Workshops

Our museum collections display working telecommunications artifacts and document local telephone industries through directories, photographs and personal narratives. These objects inspire excitement for engineering by tapping into America’s long phone history of iterative innovation – sparking intrinsic curiosity while providing the foundation for STEM education.

Our current research project was an extension of our registry program and addressed participants’ need to stay engaged dyadically during this Covid-19 pandemic. As part of its purpose, this project collected wide-ranging data regarding mental and physical health statuses, access to resources, strengths/challenges faced and recommended relevant resources.

At monthly debrief meetings, caller feedback was solicited. Three major themes emerged: seriousness of the project, communication strategies and meaningful reflections. This study contributed to existing literature as well as supporting future studies in similar settings; additionally it offered evidence for this type of outreach to serve as a useful alternative to in person group health engagement events that were cancelled during Covid-19 pandemic.

Public Tours

The museum collection represents a tangible history of communications technology that visitors can explore during guided public tours led by experienced museum educators. Visitors will gain an understanding of how communications devices have developed since Alexander Graham Bell first demonstrated them back in 1876 to what exists today.

Edmonton Telephone Historical Centre is one of North America’s largest telecommunications museums, perfect for families and school groups on field trips or simply exploring downtown Edmonton. This non-profit museum also serves as a research, documentation, exhibition and storage center for telephone history materials.

The museum is open from May to October and can be visited Tuesdays to Fridays during various hours with free parking and ADA compliant facilities easily accessible via car or bus. Tours may also be provided as staffing permits. It can be found at 1 Depot Street Warner NH 03278 with tours offered as staffing permits.

Traveling Trunks

Teachers can rent trunks for use in their classrooms. Their contents are designed to align with state and national curriculum standards, featuring easy-to-use lesson plans, museum-quality mounted images and reproductions, primary source artifacts and hands-on activities for students.

Use this travel trunk to teach your class about world holidays like Ramadan, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas traditions from different cultures. It features informational DVDS, cultural books, crafts, music and traditional objects that will teach them everything they need to know.

This trunk provides an interactive way of learning about Bosnians in Bowling Green and how they have adjusted to American life. It contains books, a cura Saz (Bosnian lute), embroidered fabric samples, food recipes and items from one Bowling Green Bosnian home including coffee pots and soccer jerseys.

This educational resource explores the history and development of agriculture in Prince William County. Materials provided to grades 3-7 cover best agriculture practices discovered throughout history, erosion’s effect on soil composition and farming techniques in this region, among others.

People throughout history have made numerous advancements in communication technology, such as Samuel Morse’s invention of the telegraph in 1843 and Alexander Graham Bell’s patenting of his phone in 1876.

The Museum houses a functional central office switch (Panel and Crossbar electromechanical switching), antique phones, outdoor plant displays complete with poles cables tools and research archives related to communications – making it one of the largest museums of its kind.

Museum of Telephony

The Museum of Telephony is part of the Telephone Historical Centre and features artifacts dating from early switchboards to smartphones. This impressive collection stands as testament to Alderic O. “Dick” Violette and Garry Mitchell as industry veterans as well as members of Violette & Bartlett families in Woodbury Connecticut who contributed their time.

This museum houses historical documents, an operational Number 5 crossbar switch and mechanical tone plant as well as other equipment – it is the only museum of its kind in North America.

This interactive museum provides visitors of all ages the opportunity to gain an in-depth knowledge of how our wired network functions, from historical phones and switches, to those responsible for its construction and upkeep. Their archives feature photos of Edmonton’s telephone pioneers as well as oral histories with former phone company employees.

AT&T Archives and History Center

AT&T Archives and History Center can be found 30 miles outside Manhattan in Somerset County. Their collections showcase over 100 years of telecommunications history ranging from an antique Western Electric washing machine to an accurate three-quarter scale model of Telstar 1 satellite.

As one can see among these objects lies many stories to be told: the invention of the transistor and telegraph; inauguration of the first television station; live phone call between President Richard Nixon and Apollo 11 astronauts – just a few to name.

Reporting directly to AT&T’s Corporate Archivist, this role will perform various archival functions at their largest collection: processing, cataloguing and digitization workflows; as well as safeguarding historic resources. She/he will assist with research requests from AT&T business units as well as outside scholars, authors and documentarians as well as support preservation activities at the 40,000 sq ft archives facility, monitor environmental conditions and respond in emergency situations.

Telecommunications History Group

Communication innovation has long been at the heart of human advancement. From prehistoric man and his smoke signals to today’s smartphone-wielding high-powered executives, communication innovation has steadily advanced over time.

In 1990, retired telecom employees realized that historical items were being lost or thrown away as buildings closed or downsized, departments shrunk and people moved on from telecom. THG now runs two museums and an extensive archive to preserve these artifacts for posterity.

Connections Museum Denver and Connections Museum Seattle each boast extensive collections of central office and outside plant equipment. In Denver, THG Archives also house an extensive archive of telephone-related materials and photographs dedicated to connecting the history of telecom with changing technologies and cultures.

Virtual Museum of Telecommunications

The Virtual Museum of Telecommunications is an online museum designed to make the collections and stories surrounding telecommunications accessible to everyone. The exhibits featured within this museum provide viewers with a personalized experience; discover how one mother used smoke signals to save her son from an attack in New Mexico or witness first-hand how one telephone operator braved a flood while staying at her switchboard despite all odds!

The THG Archives Museum serves to preserve and make accessible the history of telecommunications. Additionally, this resource offers teaching and research capabilities and features online exhibitions which present assets, processes and successes of this industry.

Its collection is one of the largest in North America, featuring wooden box phones and candlestick phones made of wood or other materials; fully functional Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; as well as antique telephones curated by both active and retired Bell System employees. It is managed by both active and retired Bell employees.

Established on December 3, 1987 and later relocated to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre for accessibility purposes, this hands-on museum provides an enjoyable way to learn the history of communications technology. It features working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches as well as antique phones, operator switchboards, outside plant displays such as poles cables and splicing equipment and displays dedicated solely to outside plant displays.

Guided Tours

Roseville, California-based museum managed by retired telecom employees boasts one of the largest collections of antique telephone equipment in North America. Exhibits showcase how communications technology has developed over time; working central office switch equipment from Panel and Crossbar Electromechanical Central Office Switch Equipment Manufacturers such as antique telephones, operator switchboards, outside plant displays including pole wire splicing tools as well as an extensive cataloged telecommunications reference library can all be found here.

This wheelchair accessible museum showcases over 100 years of communication history, from wooden wall phones and rotary dialers to sleek cell phones of today.

Telecom Pioneers (a non-profit 501(c)(3) employee service organization) have restored this facility, making guided tours available for groups of 10 or more. An ideal place for family outings or as an addition to sight-seeing tours!

Museum Store

The Museum Store is an extraordinary world-class source of gifts, memorabilia and publications designed to enhance visitor experiences at the Museum. Here they can expand their learning beyond its walls with educational books and kits; purchase mementos of their favorite exhibits; or bring home entertaining puzzles, cuddly stuffed animals and iconic museum apparel and memorabilia as souvenirs from their visit.

Roseville Museum provides an interactive window into the history of communication technology. Housed within an old phone building, it offers visitors a glimpse into this field’s past and presents one of North America’s largest collections of antique telephones and equipment from North American manufacturers like Bell System employees (both active and retired). Also featured here are working Panel and Crossbar Electromechanical Central Office Switches as well as antique phones. Outdoor Plant displays with poles, cables, tools as well as an extensive reference library complete the experience.

Non-profit organization funded through membership dues and research fees, the Telecommunications History Archives maintains and operates one of the largest privately held telecommunications archives in America and conducts educational programs to preserve its heritage.

Education Programs

The museum provides an acquisition, research, organization, documentation exhibition and storage center dedicated to telephone history materials. It houses working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique telephones and switchboards; outside plant displays with poles cables and splicing tools; as well as cataloged telecom reference libraries available to researchers.

The museum exhibits chronicle one hundred years of communication technology development locally and worldwide, from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop through wireless technologies used today. Ranging from wooden wall phones and dialers to manual operator switchboards, step-by-step private automatic branch exchanges and candlestick telephones – its extensive collection represents one of the largest communication antique collections in North America.

The Museum offers New York City public school students in grades 3-12 the opportunity to engage with telephone-related objects and stories with an educator from the Museum at their schools. Lessons aim to expand cultural knowledge, foster respect for artistic culture and develop critical thinking skills – lasting anywhere between one hour to two hours depending on your school’s schedule.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer opportunities at Green-Wood Museum abound! Volunteering is an engaging way to get to know Green-Wood better while discovering its history, with opportunities spanning Archives & Historical Collections, Museums, Friendly Visitors (a multidisciplinary healthcare team approach that addresses social & cognitive needs of older adults through activities like guided conversation techniques, simple activities & companionship) being just some examples of opportunities we offer our volunteers. Click here for more details & applications are now being accepted for 2018-2019 volunteer year (please indicate which area(s of interest when applying). We welcome applications & look forward to welcoming our volunteers!

Telephone historical centres serve as acquisition, research, organization, documentation and exhibition centers dedicated to telecommunications artifacts. Their collections spark both children’s and adults’ curiosity about technology, innovation and culture – from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted phones with operator direction through modern day multifunctional mobile phones.

This article seeks to describe HBEC’s telephone outreach project designed to keep registry participants engaged during the pandemic, and highlight key results and lessons learned so as to encourage replication of such efforts.

American Museum of Telephony

The American Museum of Telephony is one of North America’s oldest and largest telecommunications museums, providing educational programs and exhibits to locals as well as tourists alike. Their collections feature vintage telephones, switchgear, and early telegraph equipment – plus tours and public events!

The collections at this museum tell tales of innovation, technology and culture. They demonstrate how telecommunications have progressed from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted operator-directed phones to sleek portable multifunctional smartphones produced today; furthermore they demonstrate the iterative design process behind such technologies.

Outreach workshops at this museum foster excitement for engineering by tapping into America’s rich history of phone innovation. These hands-on workshops help develop inquisitive minds, spark intrinsic curiosity and create a strong basis for STEM education. Volunteers play an essential part in fulfilling this mission by leading tours, managing youth activity tables and cataloguing memorabilia – some even possess formal artifact handling or library/archives experience – so the museum can continue building collections that honor creativity.

Gridley Museum of Independent Telephony

This small museum is an absolute must for those interested in telephone history. It pays homage to the numerous independent telephone companies that began operating after Alexander Graham Bell’s patent expired, featuring an old switch board, glass insulators and antique phones as well as an exact replica of a rural phone exchange.

Roger Kaufman, retired President of Gridley Telephone Company and avid collector, established this museum after collecting items and artifacts over time. To determine its feasibility he invited several citizens together in Gridley for consultation purposes on creating such an institution.

The museum houses many antique rotary telephones. Additionally, there is an impressive collection of telephone kiosks, commonly referred to as “pillar boxes”, used by early telephone companies; with different designs such as those found before 1920 in England.

New Hampshire Telephone Museum

The New Hampshire Telephone Museum in Warner is an engaging place that explores how telephones have played an integral role in our lives, both historical and modern. Adults will appreciate its education-centric exhibits; children will love exploring it.

The museum opened in 2005 and currently features more than 1,000 phone-related artifacts, such as rotary phones, candlestick phones and wooden wall-mount phones; phone booths; princess phones and princess phones as well as switchboards and linemen’s tools from collections including those belonging to Violette Bartlett families and Garry Mitchell.

Paul Violette, manager of the museum, notes that those who think modern communication technology has vastly outshone its predecessor are misinformed. According to him, calls don’t connect wirelessly from wall-to-wall – rather, they go from tower to tower before returning back again – creating a complex process involving various networks working in unison.

Telephone Historical Centre

Telecommunication museums preserve and exhibit the history of communication innovation. Their collections spark curiosity in both children and adults about technology, culture and human factors behind these inventions, from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall phones with operator direction to Thomas Watson’s humper phone to modern multifunctional smartphones.

Telecommunication museums not only preserve telephone-related artifacts and equipment, but they also offer public tours for students, groups, or individuals. The ED TEL Telephone Museum in Edmonton, Alberta features antique phones as well as a complex panel switchboard so visitors can experience technology first-hand. Visitors to this telecommunications museum can test crank phones, explore classic rotary dial phones and discover antique line insulators while former employees from the telecom company themselves guide them through its collections – offering an unforgettable hands-on learning experience! Accredited by Museums Alberta, this must-visit attraction for anyone interested in telephone history.

Visit this unique museum and trace the evolution of telecom technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop to today’s sophisticated cell phones. Here, visitors will discover an astounding collection that is sure to excite both children and adults.

The Telephone Historical Centre in Edmonton, Alberta boasts working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique telephones and switchboards; outdoor plant displays featuring poles cables splicing tools; an organized telecom reference library and knowledgeable docents (current or retired telecom employees) who offer guided tours.

Opening Hours

Established in 1987 and moved to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre two years later for enhanced accessibility, this museum houses one of the world’s premier collections of antique telephones and equipment dating back to Alexander Graham Bell’s groundbreaking invention in 1876. Visitors are offered an interactive experience exploring communication technology from laboratory bench to living room while inspiring enthusiasm for engineering.

From wooden wall phones and classic rotary dialers, to replicas of small town America independent phone exchanges with glass line insulators, the museum houses an impressive variety of devices. Additionally, working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches, operator switchboards, outdoor plant displays featuring poles cables splicing tools as well as an extensive cataloged telecommunications reference library are displayed here.

Docents (current and former Bell System employees) offer knowledgeable tours through this facility, making the Telephone Historical Center ideal for family outings, school field trips or group sightseeing tours.

Admission

Telecom Pioneers (a non-profit 501(c)(3) Bell System employee service organization) operates this museum located within the historic Jefferson Barracks Park Telephone Building in Jefferson Barracks Park. Featuring one of North America’s premier collections of antique telephones. Experience how communications history has progressed from Alexander Graham Bell’s gallows frame phone through wireless technology today! It provides a dynamic learning opportunity. The museum features working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique phones operator switchboards; outdoor plant displays with poles cables splicing equipment tools for display; as well as a comprehensive cataloged Telecommunication Reference Library with knowledgeable docents (current and retired telecommunication employees who volunteer their time) offering guided tours through its collection.

This Edmonton museum first opened on December 3, 1987 in Old Strathcona neighbourhood and then relocated two years later for increased accessibility at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre downtown Edmonton. Established by retired ED TEL employees, its purpose is the acquisition, research, documentation exhibition and storage of historical materials related to telephone technology and telecommunication devices.

Guided Tours

Visit the Roseville Telephone Museum for a family outing, school field trip or sightseeing tour and discover one of North America’s largest collections of vintage telephone equipment! It offers something for all age groups.

This museum showcases everything from wooden box phones and classic rotary dialers, to replicas of American independent telephone exchanges with line insulators – wooden box phones, classic rotary dialers, replicas of small town American independent telephone exchanges complete with line insulators as well as working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches, operator switchboards, outdoor plant displays with poles cables splicing tools as well as an archived reference library are just a few highlights here.

The Museum has partnered with PocketSights, the free mobile tour guide app, to offer two self-guided walking and driving tours highlighting local history. Simply download it, enter your location and select one of the stop numbers displayed at the museum – for instance “Stop 1” is conveniently located right behind its visitor center allowing an effortless start!

Special Events

Established by retired telecom employees, this museum houses one of the world’s finest collections of antique phones and equipment. First opening its doors on December 3, 1987 in Old Strathcona neighbourhood, two years later moving to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre to facilitate group tours or individual visits.

The museum features everything from Alexander Graham Bell’s original gallows frame phone, classic rotary dial phones and antique line insulators to working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches, antique telephones and switchboards, outdoor plant displays with poles cables splicing tools equipment; cataloged telecommunications reference library as well as knowledgeable docents (current or retired employees from telecom companies) who provide guided tours throughout the museum.

Visit the Telephone Historical Centre if you want to experience how communications technologies have advanced from wooden wall phones and operator-directed designs through to today’s pocket sized cell phone technology. With interactive exhibits for both children and adults alike, the Telephone Historical Centre fosters engineering passion while entertaining its visitors simultaneously.