Visit the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Menlo Park Museum
The Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower was built in 1937 and dedicated February 11, 1938, to commemorate Thomas Edison's 91st birthday. The building presently serving as the Museum was built in 1941, as a gatehouse and reception area for people visiting the Tower.
Located at 37 Christie Street in the Menlo Park section of Edison Township, the Tower is situated where Thomas Edison had his laboratory, the first modern research-and-development center in the world.
While in Menlo Park, Edison received approximately 400 patents on inventions, including the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the electric railroad car. His innovations at the site included wireless transmissions (nearly 20 years before Marconi), the carbon button transmitter (a major improvement to telephone technology), and the discovery of the Edison Effect, the foundation for the field of electronics. Thomas Edison remarked that some of his greatest triumphs were accomplished at Menlo Park. The Menlo Park Museum contains some of Edison's inventions, historic photographs, a selection of products from the Thomas A. Edison Company, and other Edison-related material.
Museum Hours
Effective January 23, 2008, the museum will be closed on weekdays for a short-term in order to allow staff to undertake
a complete collections inventory. Until further notice, the museum is only open:
Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
We apologize for any inconvenience. Please watch this website as we will update it when the museum returns to regular hours.
Also, please feel free to call or email us.
Fees
There is no charge to visit the Tower or Museum, but donations are appreciated. For more information about supporting the Tower and Museum, please call (732) 549-3299.
Group Tours
Schools and other organized groups are welcome by appointment. Group visits are not restricted to public Museum hours, provided visits are arranged at least one week in advance.
The Museum encourages a donation of $2 per student to help offset the costs of staffing and maintenance.
Call the Museum at (732) 549-3299 to schedule a group tour.