The Museum of Communications

Best place to go for engineers! Specially about the telecommunication industry! Also great experience for tourist. 100% recommended.
The first time there today. Although we think it was a little sketchy that they might close of weather is too hot, once you went in you understand why they have to close if it’s too hot out.
The outlook of the museum is not anything fancy. But the entrance is pretty cool and when you go up to level 3… You will be amazed. (Also the journey begins!)
So we went to the level 3 entrance and signed in, and then the old guy called Les came ask us if we need a tour! We said yes and that’s the best experience ever! He is funny and nice and he answered all our questions with no doubt (cause he has 50 years of experience in the telephone industry!). And actually turned on few things to show us how they used to use it in the old times.
I don’t know how to explain. It is something that you don’t wanna miss in your life! I appreciated what we have right now more than ever after the tour today. Everyone gogogogogo!
Me and my buds are def going back again for the level 2 tour!
(P.S. They offered treats and drinks and the pink cookie is awesome!!!)

This is probably one of the coolest museums in Seattle. The sheer amount of interesting stuff here in insane. It’s a shame that the facility is so small and remote, because they could totally use a new building.
Where should I start? I went here with my friend, who used to work in the telecom industry. I never worked in the industry and most of the stuff here was WAY before my time. I learned so much about telephones in the two hours that I was here than I had ever learned before. The use of electro-​mechanical switches and relays is insane and the clicks you hear from em have their own little charm.
You can actually touch most of the things there AND see the wiring behind a lot of the items. It’s really cool! It reminds me of the Living Computer Museum in SoDo.
I will definitely be back here, and I’ll arrive way before closing next time!

This museum is fantastic as a window on the world before miniaturization of telephone switching systems. The third floor is the first to visit, usually with a volunteer guide, with several different ‘switches’- some that are one-​of-​a-​kind anymore. I understand that as the south Seattle switches were modernized and Boeing put in their own PBX, the equipment in this building was scrapped leaving a couple of floors empty. Some long time Bell and other retirees proposed saving some other switches in the area from the same fate, and this space was made available. The equipment is now stand-​alone, but operable. Also on the third floor is a veritable computer and test equipment museum. Then on the second floor you’re self-​guided through communications artifacts, from phone booths and wall mounts, to fiber optics.
I even took my Cub Scouts here, and they were fascinated!
Note that the daily opening has changed from Tuesdays to Sundays, 10 – 3.

Outstanding! This is hands-​down *the best* interactive, hands-​on museum that I have ever had the pleasure of going to.
I’ll keep it short. This isn’t your typical museum with stuff in display cases that you can’t touch. This is a full-​scale WORKING telephone exchange system — correction, SEVERAL full-​scale working telephone exchange systems.
Equipment dates back to the original step-​based dialing systems through the ranks of the various crossbar switching systems and into more modern PBXs from the 80s, 90s, and things that are still in use today.
The staff are friendly knowledgeable folks, many of whom have made their careers in the telephone industry. All of them are eager to pass on the knowledge of how telephones work and the progress that the industry has seen over time.
If you’re in Seattle, you absolutely MUST visit this museum. They are only open one day per week (currently Tuesdays, soon to change to Sundays) for about 6 hours, and one additional day per month (currently a Sunday, soon to change to a Tuesday).
PS: look through the pictures here on Unilocal.I posted several including a video.
PPS: Admission is FREE, but donations are encouraged — this equipment doesn’t maintain itself. :)

Went there this morning and it was fantastic! The staff was friendly and very knowledgeable! David was my guide, and since I was the only one there, he offered me coffee and donuts, and took me on a 1.5 hour tour of the place. He encouraged hands-​on interaction with the equipment (which I love), and was able to answer just about any question I had. I met two of the other engineers, Bob, and Bob, who were both great, too. All in all a great experience, and I’d love to go again!

I’d heard about this place a while back, but never made it over until today. This is in part because it is open very limited hours — Tuesdays 8:30 — 2:00 and the first Sunday of every month 11:30 — 4:00. Anyhow, finally having a Tuesday where my husband and I were both home from work — and not because we were sick or it was a holiday — we decided to head on over.
Very glad we did.
The museum is located in an old telephone communications building in Georgetown and showcases the history of the telephone from the Alexander Graham Bell days (late 1800s) until about 100 years later. There are rows and rows of old switchboards from various decades. Most of these are still working. And our tour guide — who worked at this place for real back in the day — was more than happy to demonstrate each. In addition, there are scores of old telephones, teletype machines, transmitters, cables, and a washing machine (don’t ask).
This is definitely a cool place to spend a couple of hours, see some fabulous olde gadgets, and learn a bit about how the simple act of placing a phone call evolved over time,

You go there. You will see my dad. His name is RW Dickensheets Jr.

I was working in the Qwest building at the time, (now Century Link), and the gentleman working in the Museum asked us if we wanted to go in and take a look. So my dad and I went in and we were amazed with how much they had. All sorts of old telephones, radios and transmitters, phone switches and many more. It was really cool to see how the phones looked when they started and to how they have progressed over the years. It’s free to go in and take a tour. I believe the guy showing us around said they are only open on Tuesdays. So if you interested in the history of communication then this is the place for you.

Totally unique, fun way to spend a Tuesday. The «museum» got a ton of charm — it takes up two floors of a telephone building along Marginal Way. It’s filled with rows and rows of old telephone equipment, much of it working. Vintage telephones, teletype machines, radio transmitters, 10 foot tall banks of phone lines switches that must have about a million different wires going in and out.
If you dig gadgets at all, you’ll be in heaven. It’s staffed by volunteers, most of whom are retirees from the phone company. They have these sweet uniform-​style Museum of Communications shirts and are happy to give tours. Rich spent an hour showing us nifty things like how old-​school phone connections worked (think the «Mad Men» phone room). It’s amazing how incredibly complex these systems were.
My wife, who is by no means a gadget-​lover, really liked it as well (and was charmed by Rich’s enthusiasm). Our two-​year old son had fun looking at everything and talking on a variety of old-​school phones.
And the price is right — free! But it was so awesome i was compelled to leave some $$ in the donation jar. You’ll want to do the same.
I don’t know if there’s any other place quite like this on the West Coast, perhaps even in the U.S. A few other awesome pieces — this vintage answering machine where you recorded the greeting onto a 45rpm record and this giant 10 feet long machine that generated the ring you heard when calling.

I like this place, so I guess that makes me another nerd cause I am definitely in nerd heaven when I visit.
Thisplace is awesome. They have mostly telephones, telephone equipment and also other items built by Western Electric, like washing Machines and Sewing Machines. They also have a collection of vintage phone books. One item of note is a «FAX» machine from the 1930’s that actually still works (sometimes) It creates the image in the receiving end by actually burning it on the paper — a stinky event, to be sure. They are only open on Tuesdays 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p. m, but the price is right — free with donations gladly accepted.

Certainly not for everyone, but for the nerdy … it’s heaven. Two floors of a very large building filled (neatly!) with telephone switching equipment — most of it working — and lots of other telecommunications-​related stuff. And volunteer guides!
Only open Tuesdays during the day, alas.