Museum Profile
The Telephone Museum
The Telephone Museum focuses on the era 1876-1984 when mechanical and electro-mechanical devices provided telephonic communication. Switchboards and operators, inventions and networks, technicians and customers are featured in interactive exhibits. The evolution from historic methods of communication to current technology is established through visitor participation in a time-line based path through the museum's exhibits.
The museum's "campus" currently includes the Main Building, a Visitor Center and a stand-alone exhibit of the Frenchboro (Maine) Central Office. Rotating exhibits and events are also offered. Volunteer participation is encouraged in operating and maintaining the working exhibits and restoration of equipment, as well as general help.
Future plans include separate buildings devoted to particular eras of telephone switching, and to the different craftspeople, technicians, laborers and entrpreneurs who created and operated the pre-digital network. The emphasis will continue to be on a hands-on, interactive environment for the education and understanding of communication technology.
