Telephone Historical Centre Archives in Old Strathcona offers an amazing collection of telecommunication history and equipment, and serves as an unparalleled resource that showcases innovation, technology and people.

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Sheldon Hochheiser, the center’s corporate historian. He shared his extensive knowledge about its materials, history, and organizational quirks with me.

The History of the Telephone

Telephones have been one of the greatest innovations ever created. Allowing instantaneous communications over vast distances, phones have revolutionized how we live, work, and play – but as with all life-altering technologies they’ve also been exploited for malicious use.

Samuel Morse’s telegraph marked an early step in telephone technology. Although it allowed messages to be passed between locations, non-English letters required codes. Alexander Graham Bell set out to improve upon this communication method and ultimately invented the telephone.

Bell’s invention did not become a hit immediately; rather, he collaborated with many other innovators to perfect his design. Antonio Meucci invented an early predecessor device in 1850s, and Charles Bourseul and Louis Reis had already created wired sound transmitters before Bell made his breakthrough.

By 1876, only a few thousand telephones had been introduced into American households; by 1880 this figure had increased dramatically to over three million! By 1914, America led the world in terms of teledensity with more telephone lines than any other nation.

Not only was the telephone an invaluable means of communication among friends, family, and colleagues; it was also an essential business tool. Businesses could keep in touch with clients and customers as well as organize communications between urban areas and rural locales in America using this handy device.

The telephone is an exemplary example of how one idea can transform our world, leading to numerous devices we take for granted today – from electric telephones first introduced in the 1930s through today’s cell phones, many other groundbreaking inventions have resulted from telephone technology. Not only has this led to enhanced communications but has also opened up doors of opportunity for humankind.

The History of Edmonton

Edmonton, located in Alberta’s heartland, is an exciting urban hub teeming with culture and activity. While its skyline features towering buildings, its downtown core still retains the charming architecture that defines early-day Edmonton.

As part of Canada’s “Fertile Belt”, Winnipeg serves as a vital agricultural center, featuring grain farming and processing (particularly meat packing) as primary industries. Furthermore, its economy relies heavily on being both an important railway hub and port serving Canada’s western provinces.

Edmonton was long home to aboriginal tribes before it was ever settled by Europeans in 1795 with Fort Edmonton established on the North Saskatchewan River by Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). It’s likely that its name comes from Edmonton in England where HBC commander at that time lived and may even have come from where their commander came.

As soon as Strathcona and Edmonton combined in 1912, a sudden burst of growth occurred. Within months, Edmonton’s combined population had quickly exceeded 50,000; estimates suggest it may have even reached 75,000 by World War I’s start. Following that rapid period, Edmonton steadily expanded as an epicenter of regional wholesale trade and transportation services.

Early on in Edmonton’s development there were few regulations by government; individuals would often squat in their own homes or rent rooms for less than the market price. Over time however, as people became more settled they gained homesteading rights and property titles and regulations were implemented to safeguard against health and fire hazards.

The Telephone Historical Centre holds many valuable documents related to Edmonton and its telecommunication industry, from city directories from 1895 up until today, technical manuals dating back as far as 1838, technical manuals for telephone equipment dating to Alexander Graham Bell’s Liquid Transmitter in 1876 all the way up until modern mobile phones are created today.

Mission of Our Museum Our mission is to show the public the invention, ingenuity, and industry of telecommunications from 1876 up until now by using working equipment as tangible evidence of this technology.

Students, researchers and anyone interested in Edmonton’s history can explore the THG Archives which contain an impressive collection of antique telephone directories dating back to the 1800s, technical books on telecomm technology and much more.

The History of the Telephone

The telephone has become one of the world’s greatest inventions. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to communicate instantly across continents. Now most take instant communication for granted but back before its creation life was much tougher.

Before the telephone revolutionized communication, people needed to send long distance messages using telegraph wires that only transmitted written text in Morse code – making spoken words unsuitable for transmission and lengthy or complex messages difficult to read remotely. With the telephone revolutionizing long distance communications by offering direct conversations across long distances as well as audio transmission capabilities.

Alexander Graham Bell is widely recognized as the inventor of the first telephone, yet other inventors such as Antonio Meucci, Thomas Edison, and Elisha Grey also created early versions. Over time this issue has become the subject of intense discussion, research, and even legal action.

The History of the Telecommunications Industry

By the early 1980s, most industrialized countries had established extensive wireline network systems to enable citizens and businesses to communicate instantaneously over long distances. Telecommunications companies quickly emerged as major employers with lucrative job offerings for linemen, cable splicers, station installers and switchboard operators that helped fuel rapid economic development of these nations.

Networks evolved, replacing circuit switching with packet switching and analog representations of voice, video, and data with digital ones. New technologies like cell phones, satellite TV, and the Internet also reduced reliance on wired networks.

Structure has also undergone dramatic transformation. Gone are the days when there was a single national telephone company; now multiple private operators networks often exist within any given country, complicating regulation by creating competing pressures on costs and infrastructure necessary for providing services.

Communications services often operate as interconnection businesses; capacity from one network may be shared among subscribers from different networks, leading to roaming charges. Sector policies tend to be highly complex and tariffs reflect this complexity; as a result, competition among providers can often be intense and barriers to entry can be quite high.

The History of Edmonton

Edmonton’s central location on the North Saskatchewan River valley has attracted settlement for millennia. A stone tool found inland from river’s shore in 1976 indicates continuous occupation during Prehistory period.

By the late 19th century, numerous small settlements had arisen along the riverbanks and in surrounding areas, each with their own individual identity. These villages provided homes to both Indigenous people and newcomers from all parts of the globe.

Edmonton became a regional wholesale trading and transportation center when the railway arrived in 1891, which saw economic development centred on various agricultural processing activities including meat packing.

After World War II, Edmonton experienced rapid population growth due to an explosion in oil industry activity which provided jobs, wealth and a new sense of civic pride for its citizens.

Edmonton’s history can be found throughout its buildings, artifacts and other historic sites throughout the city. Edmonton is also a center for research and technology innovation – including telephone systems. Public and private libraries in Edmonton offer extensive collections of local history materials to help discover your personal connection to this historic community. Published histories for districts or towns often provide volumes of biographical data on families – these histories can often be found at FamilySearch Library as well as most larger Canadian libraries.

A group of retired and active telecommunications employees realized that historical items were being lost when buildings were demolished or departments closed, so in 1990 they organized the Telecommunications History Group (THG). Their aim was to collect these artifacts for preservation purposes while creating an online museum to house their collection.

At the Telephone Historical Centre, visitors have an opportunity to gain a unique perspective of communications technology’s evolution. Here you will find working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchanges and various pieces of equipment on display.

Admission

The Telephone Historical Centre is Canada’s premier museum showcasing telecom history. Established by retired ED TEL employees in 1987, the museum first opened to the public on Dec 3, 1987 in an Old Strathcona telephone exchange building and moved later that year to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in central Edmonton. There, visitors can explore a collection of original and replica telephones dating back to Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone in 1878; other exhibits include manual operator switchboards; Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange demonstrating stepping switch principle; along with various other equipment and tools related to telephone related products and tools related to telephone related equipments.

Researchers will find an extensive cataloged reference library available, as well as a small gift shop and educational workshops available for school and youth groups. Admission to the Telephone Historical Centre is by donation with children and seniors receiving discounts.

Guided Tours

Our guided tours bring the history and innovations surrounding telephone technology to life. Learn about Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 patent as well as those who constructed and maintained its nationwide network.

Our exhibits showcase working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique telephones and switchboards, outside plant displays featuring poles, cables and splicing equipment, hundreds of telephone-related items as well as an expansive cataloged telecommunication reference library.

When traveling in groups, schedule a tour with one of our knowledgeable volunteers during regular museum hours. Tours will last approximately 30-40 minutes.

Special Events

Telephone Historical Centre was established by retired ED TEL employees in 1987 and quickly became a tourist draw. Housed initially in a former telephone exchange building in Old Strathcona until 2004, when it moved to its present home of Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in central Edmonton.

The museum boasts an extensive collection of telephones, switchboards and equipment dating back to Alexander Graham Bell’s first patent application of 1876. Additionally, there is an extensive library with books related to telephone technology as well as technical journals.

The museum features several exhibits related to telephones: a manual telephone switchboard, an Automatic Step-by-Step Branch Exchange that demonstrates its Stepping Switch Principle and mobile telephone display cases, plus numerous novelty handsets.

Volunteer Opportunities

Our volunteer program gives individuals the chance to gain experience at our Museum and in history in general, as well as collaborate with staff on short and long-term projects that benefit museum operations, artifact preservation and research.

Volunteers are an integral part of our museum, and we welcome enthusiastic people with excellent customer service skills who can greet visitors in person or over the telephone. Volunteers also assist with special events, provide craft materials for education programs and museum activities, answer phones or enter tour guide requests into a computer system system for our Education office, assist at special events and provide craft materials as part of education programs or museum activities and support our education office by answering phones or entering tour guide requests into it.

College junior, senior and graduate students looking for practical experience in archives and museums may apply. Our Collections Internship provides hands-on experience organizing archival collections, entering data into PastPerfect databases, cataloguing artifacts and providing community service hours – it may even count for college credits! These internships are unpaid but may be available for college credit or community service hours.

As digital communication has taken over our lives, it is easy to forget about how far back telephone technology had come. At the Telephone Historical Centre’s collection, this fascinating history of telephone is revealed.

Roger Kaufman, retired President of Gridley Telephone Company, amassed artifacts and collectibles related to his business in hopes of opening a museum dedicated to them.

Manual System Telephones

Before the days of rotary dial service and automated exchanges, telephones were connected through manual system exchanges. These manually operated systems connected local calls by using patch cords and magneto crank phones – and operators got to know their customers personally. Independent telephone companies utilized manual exchanges as they did not justify automated equipment for serving rural and small town areas; manual exchanges were also employed on ships prior to marine radio being introduced as an option.

These wood three box wall phones were an early model with wooden handles that moved between mouth and ear during conversation, popular up until the turn of the 20th century. Stored in temperature-controlled vaults for easy accessing advanced features that had to be memorized previously, these artifacts offer intuitive softkey access rather than memorizing advanced features needed by prior models.

Automatic System Telephones

An automated telephone system enables callers to interact with each other without human interference, saving both time and money while optimizing agent availability, providing exceptional service for customers.

Early automated systems like this one relied on electromechanical switches to route speech between callers. Compared with operator-controlled switchboards of the late 19th century, these systems proved more reliable but more expensive to operate and frequently required upgrades and adjustments.

Automatic dial exchanges took the responsibility for connecting calls away from subscribers and put it directly in their own hands, by reading the numbers pressed onto phone keys to determine which circuit was available and connecting. This system allowed scalable networks that could encompass cities or even countries – an invaluable invention that revolutionized life – however during its early days privacy concerns loomed large as most homes weren’t wired and public phones allowed anyone who heard your conversations to access your private conversations without fearing eavesdroppers hearing your personal conversations on public phones – something phones today cannot do.

Telephone Kiosks

The iconic red telephone box, or kiosk as it is more commonly known, has long been an icon of Britain. Since 1920 when the Post Office released their standard design design of telephone boxes across Britain and beyond Empire. Since that time they can be found everywhere from local streetsides to national landmarks.

As soon as BT announced plans to sell off its payphones there was widespread outrage from across the nation and public campaigns successfully saved iconic red kiosks from being scrapped altogether. While attempts were made at replacing them with designs that looked similar to garish 1980s garden sheds; their classic counterparts remain.

Kiosks provide an ideal venue for advertising as they remain highly visible to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic for extended periods. MediaLease OOH offers several forms of kiosk advertising including City Panels that appear on the back side (street-side) of public telephone structures, and Super City Panels with backlit LED displays displaying changing messages.

Telephone Directories

Antique telephones and telecommunication technology tell a unique tale of innovation, culture and society through interactive exhibits that invite visitors to engage with these artifacts.

Telephone directories are books containing lists of residential and business telephone numbers and street addresses (in the White pages), or subject listings for businesses (Yellow pages). Alphabetically-arranged directories can also be classified by subject area – at our library we offer several different kinds of directories from multiple time periods!

An advanced telephone dialler has been created that enables fast retrieval and dialling of numbers stored in telephone directories. Its memory is organized into pages with options to lock specific ones; access codes assigned to their owners control these pages’ access rights and enable owners to lock certain pages as desired. When an incoming call comes through it is checked against numbers stored on that page with any extra details being stored into memory and displayed via alphanumeric displays.

Former and current telecom employees as well as their families will find the Telephone Historical Centre an enjoyable and educational experience. Here, visitors can relive more than 100 years of technological advances while learning more about those who helped to establish this network of telephone service.

This museum first opened on December 3, 1987 in a telephone exchange building in Old Strathcona and later relocated to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre. However, due to relevance issues, financial issues and structural concerns it closed in April 2019 for good.

Collections

The Telephone Historical Centre houses an expansive collection of artifacts, equipment and history related to telephone technology at this museum – one of the largest of its kind in North America! Additionally, this museum offers many activities suitable for all ages to enjoy.

This series comprises various files detailing town histories, exchanges and facts, buildings, storms and disasters as well as personal recollections including some scrapbooks. A large binder with newspaper clippings related to SNET promotions is also included.

This series is divided into two subseries; Contemporary and Historical. Contemporary photographs are organized alphabetically while the Historical subseries attempt to follow a 1991 SNET records management schedule, with historical photos organized alphabetically by subject heading. Many older SNET photos in protective sheets or folders require special care when handling, while some images are large and fragile; four flap enclosures provide protection from handling. It is an absolute must see for anyone interested in Edmonton’s communications history! This collection should not be missed!

Exhibits

Alberta’s telephone era is depicted through photos, news articles and artifacts from this collection that tell its tale of innovation, technology, business and people.

Artifacts and replicas help visitors trace the history of telephone use in Edmonton and North America through time. From early wooden three-box wall telephones to more familiar rotary dial handsets, this collection shows how technology has advanced from manual switching to automatic switching over time. Furthermore, many artifacts feature QR codes which visitors can scan with their smart phones to gain more information on each piece in the collection.

The museum features working switches and other exhibits that enable visitors to experience telephone history first-hand. Notable examples include a manual system step-by-step private automatic branch exchange that illustrates line switching used before electronic switching systems became prevalent; and mobile telephone display that tracks their development from 1980s car phones to modern cellular technologies.

Archives

Edmonton and Alberta can discover their telecommunications history in our extensive archives, which contain an abundance of historical photographs, news articles and memorabilia from Edmonton’s telecom past.

Archival material is an invaluable asset for researchers, students and the general public alike. Sheldon Hochheiser of AT&T Corporate History Department shares some of its many strengths.

One of the most significant documents is Thomas Watson’s notebook in which he recorded his first attempt at transmitting intelligible speech on March 10th 1876 and it still gives him chills today.

The Telecommunications History Group (THG) is an umbrella non-profit organization comprised of two physical museums located in Seattle and Denver as well as an extensive digital archive that features historic directories, photographs and slides as well as books and stock certificates as well as oral histories with former telephone industry employees – this information can be viewed upon appointment.

Events

Today, making phone calls can seem like performing a magical act: grab your cell phone and push a button – voila – your mom in Philadelphia or grandma in Florida are now speaking directly with you! At Oklahoma City’s Telephone Historical Centre you can see all the equipment that made this possible — even old phones with wires and cords attached!

The museum boasts memorabilia from past Olympic Games and Albuquerque Balloon Fiestas, along with antique telephone tools and an active switchboard suitable for demonstration purposes. All this can be found housed within its four-story former telephone building from 1906 that once housed Bell System operators connecting New Mexico with other parts of the nation.

The Telephone Historical Centre, founded in 1987, is a volunteer-run non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Nominated for a Laurel Award presented by Duncan & Craig LLP of Edmonton to community-based organizations who demonstrate innovative and creative approaches to fulfilling their missions, it received this honor in 2015.