New England Wireless and Steam Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1964 |
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| Location | East Greenwich, Rhode Island |
The New England Wireless and Steam Museum is a cool place in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It's a museum all about old electrical and mechanical machines. You can see real working steam engines here. It also has an early wireless station and old technology records.
This museum started in 1964. A person named Robert Merriam helped create it. The museum has five main buildings. Each building shows different parts of history and technology.
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What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has many interesting things to explore. It shows how technology has changed over time. You can learn about old radios and powerful steam engines.
The Wireless Collection
One building at the museum holds the wireless collection. This collection shows how early radio technology worked. You can see old radios and learn about how people communicated long ago.
The Massie Wireless Station
The Massie Wireless Station is a very special part of the museum. It was built in 1907. This station is the oldest working wireless station still around today. It was moved to the museum in 1982. This move saved it from being torn down.
The Steam Engine Collection
Another building is home to the museum's amazing steam engine collection. These are stationary steam engines, meaning they stay in one place. One of the most important engines here is a George H. Corliss engine. It is the only one of its kind still running on steam today.
The Mayes Building
The Mayes building has a special library. This library is full of old engineering textbooks. It also has a collection of small steam engine models. These models help you understand how the big engines work.
The Historic Meeting House
The museum also has a meeting house that was built in 1822. This old building is used as a big hall for museum events. It was moved to the museum site in 1972. The Frenchtown Baptist Church in East Greenwich was going to tear it down. Moving it saved this historic building. The meeting house is part of the Tillinghast Road Historic District. You can even rent it for special events like weddings.
Museum Recognition
The museum is located within the Tillinghast Road Historic District. This area is important for its history. In 1992, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers called the museum an engineering history Landmark. This means it's a very important place for engineering history. In 2001, the Massie Wireless Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This shows how important it is to American history.
As of August 2025, Randy Snow is the president of the museum's board of directors.
See also
