New England Wireless and Steam Museum

02818 East Greenwich, RI, United States of America (USA) (Rhode Island)

The New England Wireless and Steam Museum is an electrical and mechanical engineering museum with working steam engines and an early wireless station and technology archives.

The New England Wireless and Steam Museum consists of five buildings as shown in the 1st image above. The red building on the left houses the wireless collection.

The Wireless Building shows the span of electric communication from telegraph to TV. It features keys, sounders, crystal sets, tubes, microphones, ocean cable instruments, spark transmitters, detectors, an 1881 Dolbear receiver, an 1899 Marconi coherer, and a jigger and spark set exactly like the one used to call for help on the Titanic in 1912.

The next building to the right is the Massie Wireless System station, "PJ", built in 1907.
It is the oldest surviving working wireless station in the world. It was moved to this site from Point Judith, RI in 1982 to avoid demolition.

Wireless communication began about 1900. The first application was marine communications and this called for wireless telegraph stations on the shore. PJ is an excellent example of the earliest coast stations. It is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The building in the center houses the stationary steam engine collection. This collection includes the only surviving George H. Corliss engine running under steam today.

In 1875 Rhode Island was the world center of the stationary steam industry. According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) the New England Wireless and Steam Museum has the finest collection of Rhode Island made engines, together with the finest collection of original stationary steam engine drawings.

The next building to the right is the Mayes building named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Thorn L. Mayes, longtime supporters of the museum. The Mayes building houses the Mechanical Engineering library and the collection of steam engine models.

The building at the far right is a meeting house built in 1822. This building was also moved to this site in 1972 to save it from demolition.

Yankee Steam-Up

The Original Old Fashioned YANKEE STEAM-UP
NEW ENGLAND’S OLDEST ENGINE SHOW

1st Saturday in October: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Admission: $20 Adults ~ $10 Students ~ 6 & Under FREE
Free Parking. Snacks & Lunch available

Exhibitors needed and free to this event
We need your ingenious relics–steam, gas, diesel, hot air or electric–and your exquisite models, intriguing mechanical devices, antique autos & motorcycles, steam bicycles, launches. Help to make this a dynamic display with a wide variety of engineering models and much more.....

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