In addition to an impressive collection of antique phones, the museum also showcases an antique back-end switchboard and linemen’s tools as well as an antique line insulators display.
The museum is run by knowledgeable volunteers – current or retired telephone company employees – who offer guided tours through its displays and equipment. Their collection includes crank wall phones and decorator phones which still ring and dial!
Museum of Independent Telephony
Visitors of this museum will gain insight into how telecommunications technology has advanced over time. Their collection includes antique phones and insulators as well as linemen’s tools and a magneto switchboard – perfect for families and students interested in exploring communication innovation history.
At Dickinson County Heritage Center’s barn location lies the Museum of Independent Telephony. Here is where small, independent telephone companies that emerged post-Alexander Graham Bell patent expiration can be honored through guided and self-guided tours to experience its rich history of telecom.
The museum also displays an assortment of phones ranging from rotary models, candlestick phones and wooden wall mount phones, including wooden wall mount ones. There is also a phone booth featuring princess phones and rotating display of insulators in its collection. In addition, events for public participation are hosted regularly at this facility as it strives to demonstrate both social and technical significance of telegraph networks since 1876 by using working equipment that provides tangible proof that technology evolves over time.
ITPA Museum
Edmonton, Canada’s ITPA Museum is one of North America’s premier telephone museums. Established by retired ED TEL employees, it has quickly become one of Edmonton’s must-visit historical spots and educational tours for school field trips and sightseeing tours alike. Plus, with activities like its iconic robot Xeldon on offer here at this museum.
The museum exhibits artifacts and equipment from the early days of telecommunications, including a full-sized magneto switchboard, step-by-step automatic branch exchange systems, antique wooden wall phones and an assortment of novelty telephones.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and free for entry, though donations are accepted to support its work. Visitors are also encouraged to donate any spare change at its souvenir shop; even small amounts go a long way toward helping support this museum that relies on donations and sponsorships for funding.
Connections Museum Seattle
The museum features one of the nation’s premier collections of antique telephone equipment, from early switchboards to novelty phones. Professional curators lead visitors through these engaging exhibits designed to engage people from diverse ages and technical backgrounds.
Inside an unassuming building in Seattle stands two telecommunication bookends: On one side are Seattle’s major network providers; and on the other is a museum that brings back memories of rotary telephones and operator-managed party lines. Opened in 1996, The Connections Museum Seattle contains many artifacts from days gone by such as five large switching systems used to deliver news from wire services such as Reuters.
An operational Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switching system was found in storage since 1984 when Connections volunteers salvaged it from scrapyard. One such volunteer, Sarah Autumn, spent five years painstakingly reassembling it piecemeal.
New Hampshire Telephone Museum
The New Hampshire Telephone Museum was created from the personal collections of several people working in telecommunications. Their passion for history and telecom technology brought thousands of objects that trace its development through time; additionally, there’s even an impressive rotary phone collection! Located in Warner, New Hampshire.
The museum features an expansive selection of antique switchboards, candlestick telephones and wooden wall-mount phones as well as novelty phones such as princess and flip phones. Furthermore, educational tours and lectures for students of all ages are offered.
This museum is dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of telecommunications for future generations, from Alexander Graham Bell’s harmonic telegraph to cell phones. Telephone technology has had an incredible effect on how we communicate; visiting The New Hampshire Telephone Museum will allow visitors to better comprehend how this incredible invention has changed the world.
