From candlestick wall phones to the McKinley phone used to contact and announce his assassination, this museum ensures landlines’ history will not fade as mobile phones become the norm. Their collections include working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches; antique telephones; switchboards; outdoor plant displays with poles cables splicing equipment and tools as well as outdoor plant displays with poles cables splicing equipment and tools – perfect for commemorating landlines’ long history!
Admission
Experience communications technology evolution first-hand by visiting this museum. Their collection promotes engineering through America’s rich telephone history while inspiring an entrepreneurial mindset in today’s inventors and innovators.
This museum boasts one of the world’s premier collections of telephone equipment and related memorabilia, featuring working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office step switches; antique telephones and switchboards; outdoor plant displays including poles cables splicing tools as well as pole splicing tools; as well as an exhaustive cataloged telecommunications reference library – along with knowledgeable docents who are current or retired telephone company employees offering guided tours through this museum.
This museum also serves as an invaluable resource for Boy Scouts, providing them with interactive exhibits that fulfill their Inventing and Engineering merit badge requirements through hands-on displays. Operated by Charles B Hopkins No 30 Telephone Pioneers of America – an established fraternal organization consisting of both former and current telephone employees who volunteer their services.
Exhibits
At this museum, an eclectic assortment of antique telephones, equipment and other telecommunication items is on display for visitors to experience first-hand the development of communications from its beginning with rotary phones to modern smart devices used today. Perfect for family outings or school field trips; and perfect as part of group sightseeing tours around town!
The museum features a working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switch, antique phone booths, operator switches, outdoor plant displays with poles cables splicing tools as well as pole splicing tools as well as pole cable splicing tools as well as an extensive telecommunication reference library. Experienced docents – current or former employees of ED TEL – are on hand to guide groups through its exhibits and demonstrate its various pieces of equipment.
Establish on December 3, 1987 in Old Strathcona neighborhood and relocated two years later for enhanced accessibility, this museum of telephone history is one of the largest hands-on museum of its kind in North America. Displays show how technology has progressed from solid wood wall-mounted, hand-crank magneto phones with operator control to today’s sleek cellular phones.
Docent-Led Tours
Docents (current and retired telco employees who volunteer their time) lead visitors through the museum. They can demonstrate the progression of telephone technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s invention in the attic of his home to modern day cell phones.
Docents should strive to accommodate for multiple learning styles during a tour, for instance by asking students to draw or write poetry in galleries as it allows them to focus their attention and express themselves creatively in other ways than verbally.
Docents must make a one-year commitment to giving four tours per month as docents. Beyond scheduled tours, docents may assist museum information counter staff by answering visitors’ daily inquiries; doing this helps docents gain more insight into visitor questions they can address during tours as well as receiving special training to teach about particular exhibits during assigned tours; sometimes docents will also wander through galleries engaging individuals or small groups for informal tours and conversations that arise naturally within galleries.
Special Events
Telecom Pioneers, a non-profit 501(c)(3) Bell System employee service organization, operates this museum featuring one of the world’s premier collections of antique phones and equipment. Established in 1987 and relocated two years later for greater accessibility, this hands-on museum illustrates the development of communications technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop to today’s wireless devices. This collection features working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique phones, switchboards and operator switches; outdoor plant displays featuring poles, cables and splicing equipment tools; cataloged telecom reference libraries and knowledgeable docents (current or retired telecom employees who volunteer their time) who accompany visitors throughout the museum.
Roseville Museum of Telephone History offers visitors an interactive, immersive learning experience on the history and evolution of telephones. Here you’ll find wooden box phones, candlestick phones and classic rotary dial phones from years gone by as well as replicas of small town America independent telephone exchanges as well as antique line insulators.
