EXHIBITS & SIGHTS

 

Tours include the museum’s two galleries and entry to the Edison Memorial Tower.  In addition, there are many interpretative kiosks on the grounds of the 36-acre Edison State Park, a picnic area, and a beautiful nature trail to explore.

Menlo Park is listed in the National and New Jersey Registers of Historic Places.  Our museum provides a fully escorted tour, exciting visitors with amazing stories about Thomas Edison and historic Menlo Park. 

The themes covered include:

  • Establishment of the world’s first research and development laboratory

  • Perfection of the incandescent light bulb

  • Development of a complete electrical distribution system

  • Invention and progression of the phonograph, the invention that earned Edison the title of the “Wizard of Menlo Park”

  • Twentieth century commemoration of Edison’s accomplishments

  • Exhibits include:

    • Personal belongings of Thomas Alva Edison

    • An original Civil War era telegraph

    • Original Menlo Park lathe

    • Early light bulbs

    • 1882 dynamo generator

    • 120+ year-old Edison phonographs

    • Artifacts from Edison’s experimental electric railroad

    • To-scale model of Edison’s laboratory

    • Hands-on demonstrations

Outdoor sights include:

  • 1925 Menlo Park Memorial Tablet

  • 1938 Edison Memorial Tower

  • 1947 Edison Centennial Plaque

  • Excavated foundation of Edison’s office and library building

  • 36-acre Edison State Park, including a nature trail adjacent to the museum

  • Interpretive kiosks