Over just 100 years, telephone technology has rapidly progressed into an essential tool. At the Telephone Historical Centre, this development can be experienced first-hand with its collection of historic phones and back-end switchboards.

Archive holdings at the museum include special original volumes such as Alexander Graham Bell’s own Speaking Telephone published a year after its invention.

What to Expect

As technology gradually transitions from physical to virtual spaces, the Telephone Historical Centre ensures the work and innovation behind creating real networks aren’t forgotten. Since opening as Bell Systems disbanded its monopoly in 1984, the museum has amassed an extensive collection of artifacts such as crank phones, hand-operated switchboards and antique talking equipment – which help tell its own history.

Tour guides at the museum don’t hesitate to get their hands dirty, showing kids how to use rotary phones with impunity and teaching adults about ancient switching systems that once covered the landscape. “Interactivity is very important,” according to David Thompson, who leads tours from Ellsworth, Bar Harbor and other Hancock County towns.

Early telephone users were skeptical and mistrustful. It appeared miraculous that sounds could travel from metal box to metal box through thin wires; many believed the line could act as a conduit for evil spirits or even thunder and lightning storms.

Admission

The Telephone Historical Centre is one of the largest hands-on museums in North America. Opened to the public for tours beginning December 3, 1987 at Old Strathcona and moving to its current home at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in 2004, this museum operates under volunteer management and offers both educational and family tours for both groups and schools.

Visitors to Fort Kent Telephone Company’s magneto switchboard from 1920 can witness its operation and hear its jingle ring tone as well as experience its tactile features such as crank phones, pay stations and other equipment.

The museum holds thousands of artifacts related to telecom history. This impressive collection was assembled through donations from employees and retirees of ED TEL and the Independent Telecommunication Pioneer Association who donated money, time and knowledge of their history of telecom. Devoted volunteers cleaned and refurbished equipment before helping organize exhibits within the museum village – replicating rural telephone exchanges and offices within its walls.

Exhibits

The museum boasts an impressive collection of antique telephones and telecommunications equipment dating back to the 1900s, as well as exhibits showcasing communication technology from manual switching systems to automatic ones.

Roseville Telephone Museum provides an enjoyable educational family outing, school field trip or group sightseeing tour experience. Their volunteer docents and volunteers are made up of current and retired telecommunications employees passionate about sharing their knowledge of history with visitors.

One of the many exhibits on display includes an original Coffin style wall phone and wooden three box phones that still fully function, these being precursors to modern rotary dial telephone sets by using combined transmitter/receiver units rather than separate transmitter and receiver units.

The museum also houses an innovative Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange based on the stepping switch principle; this model is unique outside a telephone company’s headquarters. Visitors can even try their hand at operating an authentic telephone switchboard!

Events

Employees and retirees of Southwestern Bell, a non-profit 501(c)(3) employee service organization, volunteered their time repairing and renovating Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum in Jefferson City. Together they dedicated over 66,500 hours towards making it accessible history museum that it is today.

Most of us take for granted how much we rely on the telephone these days, but 100 years ago it was state of the art technology. At the Telephone Historical Centre we share its story as it developed over time.

The museum first opened on December 3, 1987 in Old Strathcona and later relocated to its current home at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in central Edmonton in 2004. However, its foundation decided to close in April 2019 for reasons related to relevance, financial issues and structural problems. To examine phone communications as an expression of civic identity in Edmonton as part of their studies for their COMM 505: Using Communications Technologies to Facilitate Civic Identity class at University of Alberta: read here

The Telephone Historical Centre in Edmonton offers visitors a fascinating glimpse back in time to explore how modern communications networks were made possible using electromechanical marvels from long ago. First opened on Dec 3, 1987 in Old Strathcona and later relocated to its present day location at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre, this museum first welcomed guests on Dec 3, 1987.

Visitor Check-In

At the Telephone Historical Centre, visiting guests are welcomed quickly and seamlessly with Joan’s no-fuss visitor check-in software. Visitors receive digital invites with QR codes to scan when they arrive, eliminating paper sign-in forms altogether and ensuring a swift greeting by their host or receptionist upon their arrival. Furthermore, instant notifications inform hosts/receptionists when visitors are approaching so that they may prepare themselves appropriately before meeting up with visitors when they reach the lobby; facial coverings are recommended for all visitors and Joan can make this process even faster and more efficient – click to learn more!

Admission

The Telephone Historical Centre can be visited free-of-charge; donations are gratefully accepted. It can be found within the Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre, home of other Edmonton attractions like the Canadian Museum of Nature and Science.

The museum features an expansive collection of telephones and equipment from throughout history, from wall-mounted, operator-directed hand cranked handsets made from solid wood to today’s pocket-sized touch screen cellular devices. Visitors can see how communications have progressed since 1800 in Alberta.

From Edmonton’s very first phone imported into Edmonton to today’s cutting edge cellular technology, the Telephone Historical Centre is an educational museum that will capture everyone’s interest. Parents and children alike will have fun exploring together while discovering how life has been revolutionized thanks to the telephone – for more information visit its official website.

Guided Tours

Displays such as a real, working switchboard, step-by-step private automatic branch exchange and decorator phones illustrate how wired telephone networks have progressed from their early electromechanical inventions to today’s cell phone technology. Learn about what innovations spurred others, the businesses responsible for building it all out and the people who contributed throughout history in this interactive museum of telecommunications history.

The Ohio Statehouse Monument Cell Phone Audio Tour allows visitors to set their own pace when exploring its grounds, learning more about Ohio’s rich past through sculpture collection and historic rooms. Simply locate phone numbers listed here (or in the ground-floor Map Room) on monuments or signs across Capitol Square and call them for a two to three minute description of each area.

The Edmonton Telephone Historical Centre opened on December 3, 1987 in an Old Strathcona former telephone exchange building and moved to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in central Edmonton in 2004. However, its foundation voted in April to dissolve due to relevancy, financial issues and structural problems as reasons for closure.

Special Events

Since 1957, The Museum has provided an archive and exhibits that illustrate the evolution of telecommunications through collections and exhibits. We are a private non-profit organization supported by membership dues and research fees.

The Telephone Historical Centre offers an exciting calendar of events throughout the year, such as lectures, special exhibits and educational programs.

We welcome field trip requests from local schools and have hosted numerous groups from abroad. Contact us for more information or to arrange a visit!

At the Museum, you’ll experience real, working telephones and switches from all eras of communication technology – from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop to today’s mobile phones. Wall-mounted hand crank magneto phones, step-by-step private automatic branch exchanges and more will all be featured – along with electro-mechanical marvels that made all this possible!

The Telephone Historical Centre offers visitors an insight into our global communications infrastructure, with technology from past to present showcased and the history of Winter Park Telephone Company being presented.

The museum boasts functioning Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches as well as outside plant displays of poles, cables, splicing equipment and tools. Furthermore, a cataloged telecommunications reference library is included for visitor use.

The History of the Telephone

The Telephone Historical Centre reaches its objectives through acquisition, research, organization, documentation, exhibition and storage of telecommunications historical materials.

The telephone revolutionized communication by providing people with real-time conversation across distance and continents, first locally then worldwide. The museum provides a historical overview and its development from basic box-shaped device similar to modern cell phones to present-day telephones.

Discover how Alexander Graham Bell, having previously taught deaf children, utilized his expertise of sound and speech to refine Samuel Morse’s telegraph – the precursor of modern telephones – into something much greater: modern telephone communication using electrical signals. Discover details of Bell’s box telephone as well as improvements made by other inventors to his original design; eventually this network of wired phones would span the globe! In 1877 outdoor telephone cables were first constructed that could reach three miles; by the 1880s subscribers were identified with numbers instead of names while long distance service became possible using metallic circuits – learn all this history before you.

The Bell System

Prior to automobiles and airplanes, telephone technology provided nearly instant communication over long distances. A revolutionary invention, similar to internet usage today. However, over time this revolutionary tech became perceived as an evil monopoly; and its history of the Bell System sheds light on all that can go wrong when granted such power.

AT&T (Ma Bell’s) dissolution and subsequent Baby Bell formation is fascinating to anyone interested in business, and was not as bad as some suggest; its people didn’t flaunt their monopoly position or take any extra steps to repair phone lines damaged by storms; moreover, technical innovations like rotary dialing and WATS service made this revolutionary system even more progressive than before; civil defense equipment even provided by AT&T was available just in case there was nuclear threat!

The Tanner Collection

Professor Tanner amassed a large personal library during his career. This collection of books and manuscripts makes him an invaluable resource for Western history studies, offering access to correspondence, book drafts, newspaper clippings, newsletters articles vital records photographs.

There is also on display some rare artifacts from the telecoms industry, such as a manual telephone switchboard and step-by-step private automatic branch exchange (showing off the stepping switch principle), plus mobile phone technology from 1980s car phones through to modern cell phones.

An exhibition on the life and work of Henry Ossawa Tanner has also been created. This show examines his influences that contributed to his artistic development as well as his concern with depicting dignified depictions of Black people in art. James Smalls, Associate Professor of Art History & Theory at University of Maryland Baltimore County. James is an expert in 19th century European and American visual culture.

Xeldon the Talking Robot

Located within Prince of Wales Armouries, the Telephone Historical Centre is an accredited museum specializing in collecting, research, organization, documentation, exhibition and storage of materials pertaining to Edmonton’s telephone history and telecommunications technology. Open since 1987, it ranks amongst North America’s premier museums of its type; featuring hands on exhibits as well as an incredible multi-media Historical Telecommunications Theatre Show featuring Xeldon the talking robot!

The museum provides school tours and senior programs. Its collection serves as an outstanding example of communication equipment’s development over time and serves as an educational resource for its wider community.

No matter your interest or level of knowledge about telephones, the Telephone Historical Centre offers something to satisfy every visitor – be they amateur historians or just curious to see how phones have played out over history. Come spend a fun-filled day here with family or friends! Who knows…you might just get some great ideas for future telephone projects!

The telephone has had an immense influence on how we communicate. At the Museum, its collections provide a vivid history of communication technology throughout its evolution – from manual switchboards and step-by-step private automatic branch exchanges, all the way back to 1940s phone booths! Discover how the Society helps its visitors reconnect with their history.

Volunteer Opportunities

Each year, hundreds of volunteers donate their time and talents at our museums and historic sites. They study artifacts, give museum tours, process archive material using computers and tabulate research findings; greet visitors; assist special events, work in the collections etc.

Bayside Historical Society volunteers are needed to lead school children on field trips to historic Officers’ Club at Fort Totten and gallery galleries at our History Center. Volunteers should attend a training class during fall or spring and commit to an average of one tour shift each week for nine months.

Are you curious to get a deeper, behind-the-scenes view of museum operations? Consider our Independent Museum Volunteer Training Program; this option gives you flexibility in choosing when and where you would like your training to occur.

Communication is integral to business. One of the greatest innovations in communication history has been the telephone.

Discover the history of telephone technology at Maitland Museum’s interactive Telephone Museum. Featuring working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches as well as outside plant displays complete with poles, cables and splicing equipment as well as hundreds of items related to telephone technology – this museum brings this technology alive!

In-Person Visits

Telephone Historical Centres are museums that provide in-person visits to learn more about communications technology’s history and the stories behind its artifacts. Visitors can experience working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches, antique telephones and switchboards, outside plant displays including poles, cables and splicing equipment and an impressive cataloged telecommunications reference library – not forgetting opportunities to volunteer as tour guides, gallery assistants or greeters! Timed entry tickets must be purchased prior to each visit online or over phone and include general admission for that day; see Ticket FAQs for further details!

The Edmonton Telephone Historical Centre was a museum dedicated to preserving telecommunications artifacts in Edmonton, Alberta. However, in April 2019, they decided to dissolve due to relevancy issues, financial challenges and succession planning considerations.

Video Visits

Telephone Historical Centres provide video visits with family and friends of inmates. To set up their visits through HomeWAV 24 hours in advance. Each visit lasts 20 minutes and costs $3.25; all visits are recorded and monitored; if inappropriate behavior is observed it will be terminated immediately. Visitors must always wear shoes, fully clothed including full footwear; no halter tops, tube tops, fish net shirts or see-through fabrics are allowed as clothing options.

Virtual visits play an integral role in providing care during a pandemic, enabling clinicians to meet routine patient services when in-person contact is not safe or advisable. Clinicians can ensure patient needs are met by orienting patients to this new visit modality and making interpreters available if required; also they should identify ways of overcoming barriers that prevent patients from accessing these modalities; expanding broadband access for all and creating policies to promote patients using these forms of contact.

Walk-In Visits

Visitors who prefer visiting centres directly and do not find video visits suitable may consult with staff in a number of ways. At the time of our visit, centre managers reported receiving many walk-in visitors who use walk-in services.

Nurses were responsible for most consultations at each center; some also employed health advisers for more specialized issues. Nurse employment ranged from six-14 whole-time equivalent positions per centre with vastly differing backgrounds, training levels and roles within these facilities.

The Connections Museum is the only museum in North America dedicated to telecommunication history. It showcases a functioning Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switch, antique telephones, outdoor plant displays showcasing poles, cables and splicing equipment as well as cataloged reference material related to telecom.

Special Visits

School field trips or group sightseeing tours at Telephone Historical Centre staff can arrange for a docent to guide visitors through its 4,500-square foot museum, which chronicles and celebrates over 100 years of communications technology in Roseville and nationally. Exhibits at this museum include working operator switchboards as well as outside plant displays of poles, wires, cables, splicing equipment and tools; in addition to antique telephones and memorabilia.

Docent volunteers at the museum are retired ED TEL employees with an avid interest in telephone history. Their knowledge, enthusiasm, and entertaining approach makes for an informative tour that is fun for students of all ages.

The Telephone Historical Centre of Edmonton was a telecommunications museum founded by retired employees of ED TEL and closed down due to relevancy, financial issues and succession planning issues in April 2019.