Historical Telephone Museum 'calls' Roseville home

Calling all history and old fashion telephone lovers, the Roseville Telephone Museum, located at 106 Vernon Street, is open for tours and photo opportunities the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Founded in 1914 by William Doyle, the Roseville Telephone Company began as a rural provider of telephone services with just 160 subscribers. The company was born in an era rich in technological change and advantages. In 1989, the company set out to chronicle these changes and preserve and display some reminders of how far we have come. For the next five years, telephones and telephone memorabilia were collected and curated from telephone manufacturers and providers nationally and internationally. The Roseville Telephone Museum opened to the public in 1994 with one of the finest collections in the country. The 4,500-foot, four gallery museum features many exhibits, including a display of the original telephones designed by Alexander Graham Bell circa 1876. Early switchboards and myriad novelty phones are also on display, treating guests to an educational and entertaining walk down memory lane. Hundreds of candlestick and early wooden wall telephones, colorful antique line insulators and rare telephone booths are just some of the other items on display. For many years, the Roseville Telephone Company, and later Roseville Communications Company served the Roseville and Citrus Heights communities. In 2000, the company changed its name to SureWest Communications following its purchase of WinFirst Communications, and subsequent expansion into the greater Sacramento region. In 2012, SureWest was acquired by Illinois-based Consolidation Communications, a company with a similar and rich history which was founded in 1894 as an independent telephone company serving southern Illinois. Consolidated Communications is proud to continue preserving the history of the Roseville Telephone Company and independent telephone companies across the country. For more information regarding upcoming tours, event days, and when the next open museum day is, visit consolidated.com