JKL Museum of Telephony

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The American Museum of Telephony,[1][2] known as the JKL Museum of Telephony, is a private telephone and telephone memorabilia museum originally located in Mountain Ranch, California. The museum was destroyed in 2015 in the Butte Fire and is now located near Santa Cruz. It is open only for guided tours by appointment.[3]

History[edit]

The museum was registered in 1999[4] and takes its name from its founder, John K. La Rue, whose collection originally formed its basis.[1][5]

The museum's collection, drawn from all over the world and dating back to the 1870s, has included switching equipment, military equipment, batteries, prototypes, and telephone memorabilia such as directories, in addition to working handsets of all eras.[2][6][7] Founded in Mountain Ranch, in the Sierra foothills, it was destroyed in the Butte Fire on September 10, 2015.[1][2][6][7][8]

The museum has been reestablished in Aptos,[4] with the collection being rebuilt.[5] Curators have included Wayne Merit[3] and Remco Enthoven.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Brown, Bob (September 14, 2015). "California wildfire ravages telephony museum". Network World. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Rocha, Veronica (September 21, 2015). "Telephone museum destroyed by raging flames in Butte fire". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ a b May, Patrick (November 3, 2012). "Collectors of not-so-smart phones connect in San Jose". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "American Museum Of Telephony aka JKL Museum of Telephony". GuideStar. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "About Us". JKL Museum of Telephony. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Cascone, Sarah (September 18, 2015). "California Wildfire Burns Quirky Telephone Museum to the Ground". Artnet. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Blakemore, Erin (September 15, 2015). "A One-of-a-Kind Museum Was Just Lost in California's Wildfires". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  8. ^ Enthoven, Remco (September 11, 2015). "JKL Museum lost in fire". JKL Museum of Telephony. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021.

External links[edit]