Telecommunications enthusiasts and anyone interested in how we communicate will enjoy perusing the museum’s collection of telephone items, both group tours and individual tours are offered.

Discover an expansive collection of phones ranging from rotary models and candlestick phones, wooden wall mount phones, phone booths and Princess phones – not forgetting switchboards, linemen’s tools and more – on display in this exhibit.

History of the Telephone

Smoke and light signals, letters and telegrams have all been attempted as methods of long-distance communication; however, with the invention of the telephone came direct real-time dialogue between parties at long distance.

As with other landmark inventions, the telephone was the creation of many pioneers. Antonio Meucci experimented with an early “teletrofono” device during the 1850s while Elisha Gray filed her patent application on the same day as Alexander Graham Bell did in 1876 – although Bell would eventually hold one of the phone’s most influential patents.

Visitors to the museum will see and touch an array of phone history at this facility founded by retired telecom employees and accredited with Museums Alberta. Group and individual tours are available as are volunteer phone company workers who will gladly share years of knowledge during an hour long tour.

Early Wall Phones

In the late 1800s, telephones were typically attached to walls and used by individuals who paid for the service. These phones consisted of large rectangular wooden boxes encasing hidden wires, featuring an outside receiver for easy use – commonly referred to as camera telephones, box telephones or coffin phones.

Early phones did not allow direct calls between houses; calls had to be routed through a switchboard operator who connected them directly with one house or extension at a time. Customers could notify an operator that they wanted to make calls using special signals such as two short rings followed by one long ring to indicate they wanted a call made.

The museum houses several classic wood wall phones from the Bell system’s era of operation, such as candlestick models, wooden wall-mount phones, phone booth Princess phones and flip phones. Their values depend on wood style, location of receiver and any variations that exist – in this regard the museum also holds several rotary models, candlestick phones wooden wall mount phones phone booth Princess phones as well as flip phones among its collection.

Manual Switchboards

Early telephone users were not able to place direct calls between one another; rather, they needed to contact a central exchange that connected all phones in a specific locale and contact a switchboard operator at that central exchange before dialing directly from there.

Callers would tell an operator their desired contact name and then plug a patch cord directly into their telephone socket on the central switchboard. Calls between local subscribers were generally free while long distance calls required routeing through multiple exchanges via cables.

Switchboard systems once required an expert to use, unlike modern phones which can easily connect with any number worldwide. Even in today’s age of digital telephony, however, switchboard systems remain crucial components in supporting efficient call handling practices for businesses.

Electronic Switchboards

The museum is an expansive cavern brimming with retro telecom technology you could only find in James Bond movies. Ranging from crank phones and panel switchboards, there is enough at this museum to keep even tech-savvy teenagers amused for hours! Thompson and his team encourage interactivity while imparting years of knowledge during an hour-long tour.

Electrical switchboards are an indispensable component of modern power distribution networks, providing efficient management of electricity supply in busy commercial centers as well as industrial settings.

There are various types of electric switchboards, each tailored for specific applications based on current rating, construction type, interrupt rating, operating voltage and insulation medium. Custom designs can also be created based on design principle and arrangement of copper or aluminum bus bars to fit specific applications. A general purpose switchboard can also be customized by adding features like molded case circuit breakers, metering capabilities or surge protection options that make it suitable for numerous industrial and commercial purposes.

Telephone museums preserve artifacts that highlight the development of communication technology from solid wooden wall-mounted telephones that required operators to hand crank each call through to today’s pocket-sized touch screen cellular phones, celebrating creativity, craftsmanship and ingenuity while informing visitors.

Prior to the telephone’s invention, written correspondence limited access to information for those outside a literate population. With its widespread availability and increased convenience for communicating between different audiences, telephone communication democratized communications while altering social norms and etiquette practices.

Museum Exhibits

This museum showcases a tangible history of telecommunications, with tours available both guided and self-guided. As one of the oldest complete telephone museums west of Mississippi, it highlights both social and technical telecommunications history ranging from solid wood wall-mounted phones to cell smartphones; you’ll gain a comprehensive view of technology’s development since Alexander Graham Bell accidentally invented them all!

Modern phones might take for granted today, but when first introduced in the late 1800s they were revolutionary technology. At this museum visitors can explore this development by testing out crank phones, touching complex panel switchboards and perusing an impressive collection of novelty items.

This museum is run by a group of retired telephone employees and accredited with Museums Alberta. It offers an impressive collection of artifacts such as working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches, operator switchboards and an outside plant display featuring poles, cables, splicing equipment and tools.

Archival Collections

This collection of antique telephones and telecommunications technology is the largest in North America. Its fascinating history can be explored through interactive displays highlighting telecom themes as well as hands on programs tailored for all ages.

The museum represents a worldwide association of collectors, hobbyists, and historians dedicated to keeping communications history alive. Its archives document both the Bell System as well as its predecessors from 1876–when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone–into modern times.

Researchers visiting the Shapell Library’s reading rooms can access historical published resources (pre-1953) as well as millions of digitized archival copy materials, with audiovisual materials only being viewable on-site and cannot be borrowed out.

Workshops & Guided Tours

The Museum of Telecommunication History features fully operational pieces of telecommunication history that illustrate both social and technical significance of this breakthrough in communications. It boasts one of North America’s largest collections of telephone equipment and memorabilia including working panels and crossbar electromechanical central office step switches; antique phones and manual switchboards; displays of small town independent exchanges featuring glass insulators; outside plant displays with poles, cables and splicing tools as well as cataloged telecommunication reference materials; as well as one of its largest collections of telephone-related equipment and memorabilia!

The Museum offers many hands-on, how-it-works displays that inspire an interest in engineering and history, making it an ideal spot for Boy Scouts pursuing one of their Inventing or Engineering merit badges.

The Telephone Workshops program is a full-scale development project intended to assess the effects of a STEM learning model for children and teenagers that encourages an interest in electrical theory and engineering. Participants take an inquiry-based approach which encourages them to ‘take stuff apart’ to discover its hidden power source.

Education Programs

From wooden wall-mounted phones cranked by operators to the smartphone we use today, telephone historical centers serve as testaments of invention that profoundly transformed societies. By preserving telephone models, related equipment, telegraph machines, advertisements and photos museum and archive collections provide insight into how technology evolved throughout history.

Museums often showcase working telecommunications equipment like rotary dialers, picture phones, old switchboards and linemen’s tools like stirrups for climbing poles as well as an extensive cataloged library of telecom reference materials – tangible evidence of our evolving communication technology which inspires greater appreciation of global society.

Volunteers at Telephone Historical Centres also engage students with innovative lessons on innovation, culture and technological change; making a visit an ideal family outing, school field trip or group sight seeing tour destination.

Established by retired telecom employees, this museum houses an impressive collection of equipment. Ranging from solid wooden wall mounted phones to sleek cellular telephones, you can witness how communications technology has progressed since Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop until today.

Uncover manual switchboards, working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches, displays of step-by-step private automatic branch exchanges (showing their stepping switch principle), outside plant displays including poles, cables, splicing tools and equipment, plus an impressive library devoted to telephone-related references books.

Hours of Operation

The Telephone Historical Centre’s museum exhibits fully operational pieces to show both social and technological significance of this milestone in communications history. As North America’s largest museum of this kind, it welcomes visitors of all ages.

Visitors to the Museum can explore how technology has developed from wall-mounted rotary dialers made of solid wood to mobile phones used today, with one of the world’s finest collections of antique phones and related equipment on display at this unique attraction.

Exhibits at the Bell System Museum include working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches, a hands-on switchboard, recreations of independent phone exchanges in rural and small town Midwest communities with glass insulators, outside plant displays featuring poles, cables, splicing tools and equipment, antique telephones as well as an extensive cataloged telecommunications reference library. Knowledgeable docents who currently or recently worked for Bell offer guided tours.

The Museum is managed by the Telecommunications History Group, a non-profit 501(c)(3) volunteer organization founded in 1990 by both active and retired Bell System employees, along with members of Telecom Pioneers employee service organization.

Admission

Telephone Historical Centre is one of the world’s premier hands-on museums, featuring an impressive array of communications equipment spanning from solid wood, wall mounted, hand cranked operator directed phones all the way up to today’s pocket sized touch screen celluar phones. Furthermore, working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches are included alongside outside plant displays with poles, cables and splicing tools and equipment and a comprehensive cataloged telecommunications reference library.

This museum, housed in a restored 1896 telephone building listed on the National Register of Historic Places and with wheelchair access throughout, is managed and run entirely by volunteers from Southwestern Bell, AT&T and Telecom Pioneers (a non-profit 501(c)(3) employee service organization). Volunteer docents consist of current and retired telecom employees willing to share their love of history with visitors through docentship opportunities at this museum. On display here are hundreds of antique phones, switchboards and related equipment dating back to WWI through Gulf War along with hundreds of novelty phones!

Parking

Jefferson Barracks Park hosts this accessible museum housed in a fully restored 1896 building. Showcasing an extensive collection of antique telephones and related equipment, this makes for an exciting visit for families, students on field trips or sightseeing tours alike.

Established by retired ED TEL employees in 1987, this museum is one of the largest of its kind in North America. With working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches, antique telephones, switchboards, outdoor plant displays of poles cables splicing equipment tools as well as an extensive telecommunications reference library it chronicles how communications technologies have profoundly transformed human lives over time.

Parking options at this museum include both an ample public lot nearby, as well as metered street parking spots. Disabled hangtags or license plates may use any space without restriction (ZTL restricted zone spaces should be avoided), however we highly suggest taking the shuttle bus from parking lot to museum for optimal results.

Group Tours

The Telephone Historical Centre houses one of the finest collections of telephones ever assembled in one place. It offers working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches, antique phones, switchboards, outdoor plant displays featuring poles, cables and splicing tools along with outdoor plant displays featuring poles as well as cables spliced together, cataloged telecommunications reference library as well as knowledgeable docents who volunteer their time to guide visitors through its museum exhibits.

Roseville, California boasts one of the largest and most extensive collections of antique telephones in North America. This museum provides an educational family outing, school field trip or sight-seeing tour destination for groups. Their extensive collection features crank wall phones, rotary dial phones and novelty phones – each telling an interesting tale of communications technology evolution over time.

Today, picking up the phone to reach out to family and friends across the country feels like magic; but, 100 years ago, there were wires and cords to contend with before connecting your call.

This museum, established by retired ED TEL employees, showcases an assortment of telephone items. Their collection includes working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches; outdoor plant displays with poles, cables, splicing equipment as well as antique candlestick and crank wall phones as well as novelty phones; working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches are among those on display as are working Outdoor Plant displays featuring poles cables splicing equipment antique candlestick and crank wall phones novelty phones and much more!

Hands-on exhibits

Established by retired ED TEL employees and opened to public access two years later, this museum containing one of North America’s finest collections of telephone related items is truly one-of-a-kind. From working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches, to outside plant displays with poles, cables, splicing equipment tools, antique phones and switchboards plus an expansive cataloged telecommunications reference library – you’ll find something here that speaks to every telecom enthusiast!

Visitors can explore its collection of early wooden wall phones, candlestick phones, princess phones and flip phones – even taking part in old-fashioned rotary dialing experiences!

The Museum’s workshops foster interest in electrical engineering while exploring America’s rich telephone history. Children can explore Alexander Graham Bell’s invention that began a telecommunications empire, then compare its technology to modern cellular phones. The museum itself is located in a restored 1896 building listed on the National Register of Historic Places near Jefferson Barracks Park about 15 minutes southwest of St. Louis.

Group Tours

Telephone Historical Centre provides an exciting experience, whether for students on educational field trips, families on adventure vacations or groups alike. Its museum exhibits cover over a century of communications technology both locally and worldwide – such as working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches; an operator switchboard; numerous novelty telephones and novelty models; climbing equipment on an entire phone pole as well as numerous tools and devices related to telephone communication technologies.

The museum features one of the country’s premier collections of antique telephones and related equipment, such as crank wall phones, candlestick phones and rotary dialers. There are also multiple cases with insulators of various shapes and sizes on display.

The museum is run by both current and retired telephone employees who love sharing telecommunications history with visitors. Families can come here together to discover its past while Boy Scouts looking to fulfill an engineering merit badge requirement will find this venue particularly useful.

Free parking

The Museum of Telephone History in Roseville offers visitors a captivating collection of antique phones and telecommunication equipment dating back to Alexander Graham Bell himself and up through today’s smart devices. Additionally, this one-level museum boasts working operator switchboards, antique phone booths, rotary dialers, wheelchair accessibility and parking spots available both within society’s lot as well as paid spaces nearby.

This unique museum was established by retired ED TEL employees in 1987 and later relocated to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in central Edmonton two years later. Now one of North America’s largest hands-on museums, it provides activities suitable for visitors of all ages; perfect for school field trips and group sightseeing tours alike! Exhibits include working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique phones and switchboards; outside plant displays with poles cables splicing tools as well as a cataloged telecommunications reference library!

Admission is free

Today we may take for granted what was once cutting edge technology – the telephone. At the Museum there is an impressive collection of vintage instruments and equipment which shed light on this industry such as wooden phones, switchboards, crank wall phones and even tools your ancestors used for digging underground lines!

The museum is run by both current and retired telecom employees. Its collection of historic items is one of the largest ever seen, including a working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switch, antique phones, switchboards, outside plant displays featuring poles cables splicing equipment tools plus an extensive telecommunications reference library.

Roseville Telephone Museum offers the perfect destination for family outings, school field trips or group sightseeing tours. Featuring exhibits that chronicle over 100 years of communications technology in Roseville and internationally such as working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical step switches; an operator switchboard; antique telephones; replica of small town independent phone exchange with glass insulators and outside plant displays of poles cables and splicing equipment – these exhibits showcase over 200 years of communications innovation!

Beginning as the initiative of one Bell Canada employee, this collection now comprises more than 1000 pieces of artifacts and reproductions.

Following public outrage over the sale-off of classic red telephone boxes, Avoncroft secured funding from BT’s Payphone Division to restore them.

Exhibits

Exhibits at this museum showcase everything from early wooden wall phones and rotary dial phones, novelty phones and switchboards all the way through to newer automated exchanges and manual line switching technologies.

Bell Canada employees took an early initiative to collect samples of outmoded equipment that otherwise would have been thrown out and this helped form the basis of an important industry resource.

Documents, photographs, and catalogs provide a history of telephone manufacturing from its founding at Brantford in 1878 to Bell-Northern’s Research and Development laboratories today. There are also comprehensive files pertaining to individual telephone companies as well as developments within this industry over time.

Dostcards

Few inventions have revolutionized communication as much as the telephone. This collection explores its development over time through technological, cultural and business evolutions.

The museum features an impressive collection of working central office step switches, operator switchboards and crank wall phones to demonstrate how networks were operated in the past. Furthermore, an early Kellogg Universal switchboard allows visitors to use switches to connect circuits between cord and lamp pairs.

The collection boasts an abundance of dostcards that enable researchers to trace historical callers and their locations, such as photographs, news articles and telegraph messages sent across the telephone network. Furthermore, this vast archive boasts one of North America’s largest telecommunications reference libraries.

Motion Pictures

The museum’s collection of motion pictures represents the history of moving images in Roseville and globally, including movie posters; costumes; glass slides and technical apparatus; scrapbooks; correspondence with actors/directors and portraits from this unique archive.

Utilizing never-before-seen still photos and archival sound recordings, the film tells the tale of an invention that revolutionized how we communicated. Furthermore, this documentary provides a fascinating study of American culture and society at the turn of the century.

The museum provides an entertaining and educational family outing; is ideal for school field trips; and serves as an essential venue to fulfill engineering merit badge requirements for Boy Scouts. Docents – current and retired employees from ED TEL – guide visitors through its exhibits free of charge.

Tape Recordings

Few innovations have had as profound an effect on business, society and culture as the telephone. Through an exquisite collection of full-sized Magneto switchboards, step-by-step private automatic branch exchanges and rare phone booths at its exhibition space, Telephone Historical Centre traces this technology’s development over time.

Tape recording was first developed during World War II by German engineers, providing two major advantages for studios: it allowed recordings to go beyond the 30-minute disc limit; and audio could be edited, setting off digital manipulation of sound that revolutionized music production.

The Collection holds an array of vintage crank phones, hand-operated switchboards and antique talking apparatus. Additionally, early directories listing subscribers are held within. An arrangement has been put forth to microfilm these directories as well.

Collections

The museum features an impressive collection of antique phones and other forms of telecommunication technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s inaugural phone to cell phones – from their introduction into business, society and culture.

Telephone technology has changed so rapidly over time that it’s easy to forget its revolutionary nature. At this museum, there is an opportunity to see this historic instrument up close: wall phones made of wood or fabric, hand-crank magneto phones and rotary dial phones are just some of the items featured here.

Exhibits at the museum include a full-sized magneto switchboard, Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange and rare telephone booths. Furthermore, it features an extensive collection of historical telecommunications items – tools used by linemen as well as an outdoor plant display with telephone poles, wire and splicing equipment – in its archives.