SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention

The SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention in downtown Bellingham follows a single thread of invention, from the first scientific experiments with electricity in the 1600s through the 1940s and the Golden Age of Radio. Its collection fills a 23,000 square foot building on Bay Street with magnets, Leyden jars, light bulbs, telegraphs, telephones and radios, many of them rare.

What makes it more than a room full of antiques is the showmanship. The museum’s MegaZapper Electrical Show builds to a “Cage of Doom” created by sculptor Ric Allen, where what the museum calls one of the largest Tesla coils in the country throws loose electricity around the cage. It is history you can hear crackle, and a memorable stop for curious kids and adults alike.

What You’ll See

  • An original Edison bulb. Thomas Edison produced 60 of his new incandescent lamps for a public showing at his Menlo Park laboratory at the end of 1879. The museum says only two are known to exist today, and it holds one of them.
  • The transcontinental telephone. One of four telephones used to inaugurate the transcontinental telephone line on January 25, 1915, still carrying its original plaque.
  • Rare books. Original books and scientific papers by Gilbert, Newton, Galileo, Benjamin Franklin, Volta, Hertz and Marconi trace the key turning points in electricity and radio.
  • A Priestley static machine. No complete example of the static electricity machine Joseph Priestley described in his 1769 history of electricity survives, so co founder John Jenkins built a faithful reproduction from the book’s illustration and description.
  • The Titanic radio room. A reproduction of the ship’s radio room includes original Marconi wireless apparatus.

The Story Behind It

The museum grew out of a Bellingham resident’s passion. Jonathan Winter began an informal collection of radio sets, parts, schematics and recordings in 1985, and it became the Bellingham Antique Radio Museum in 1998. In 2001 John Jenkins, a former Microsoft executive with a large collection of antique radios and electrical artifacts of his own, joined Winter. Together they became the American Museum of Radio and Electricity and moved into the Bay Street building Jenkins purchased in a downtown that, as he recalls it, was pretty much a ghost town at the time.

In 2012 Jenkins broadened the museum’s focus from radio history to what he calls the wonder and mystery of electricity, and it took its current name, SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention.

Tips for Your Visit

  • Plan your visit around the MegaZapper Electrical Show, which runs on a set schedule; check the website for show times.
  • The show is meant for ages 5 and up, and only audience members 18 and older are invited into the Cage of Doom at the end.
  • Teachers and group leaders can book field trips and group visits through the museum’s education and group visit programs.
  • Check the events calendar for special evenings and seasonal programs beyond the regular show.

Plan Your Visit

Address: 1312 Bay St, Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone: 360.738.3886
Website: sparkmuseum.org
Hours and admission: Check the museum website for current days, hours, and admission before you visit.
Directions: View on Google Maps

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